Can You Take Me Far Away? (Give Me A Star To Reach For)
by Laughing.Thalia
Summary: Ex Astronaut and Martian Hero Mark Watney moves into the apartment next to Mindy Park SatCom after his house gets sold because he was 'dead'. While dealing with PTSD, panic attacks, paparazzi and NASA always on his back how's he supposed to get together enough to figure out his feeling for the woman who basically saved his life?
1. 1) Every Little Earthquake

**Every Little Earthquake**

 **Earthquake by Little Boots**

Since the ARES III crew had gotten back to earth they'd all stayed in Houston to support Mark of course most of them lived in Houston anyway but Vogel and his family didn't go back to Germany immediately. Many new friendships had been formed Venkat was friends with Mindy, Mindy was friends with the crew, the crew was friends with Annie and in a surprising turn of events sociable Annie Montrose was friends with the socially awkward Rich Purnell.

When Mark had jokingly brought up the fact that his house had been sold on the two months he was dead and he was kinda tired of living with his parents Mindy had eagerly supplied the fact that the apartment next door to hers had just gone on sale.

Mark hadn't offered the highest price but the land lord decided he preferred to have Astronaut hero Mark Watney in his building more than some randomer and so a month later Martinez, Beck and Vogel were moving sofas and beds into Mark's new apartment (Watney offered to help but Chris insisted he wasn't well enough)

Mindy, Beth and Melissa moved boxes so that the guys could keep their masculinity in check even though all three of them had figured out five different ways to move the furniture much more easily.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LINE~BREAK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 2 weeks in when the first incident occurred. A storm was raging outside sending litter flying and open doors slamming shut. Pedestrians were being knocked over and wind was bombarding buildings. Mark had tried watching TV but couldn't concentrate, every time the wind hit his window he flinched, forgetting he was safe at home and thinking he was on Mars, the HAB Canvas about to breach.

He went to the kitchen to get some water only to remind himself that he could because __he wasn't on Mars anymore god damn it__.

 _ _He was half buried in sand his oxygen alarm going off like crazy__

He dropped the glass splattering water and glass everywhere but he wasn't seeing any of that, all he could see was __the communications dish flying off and hitting him directly in the gut a blinding pain spreading from his abdomen, Beth Johansson reaching out for him, his radio cutting out.__ he couldn't breath.

He fell to the floor, on his butt somehow missing all the glass and curled into a ball. He had his back up against his cabinets, his head on his knees and his hands on his ears trying to block out the sound of the wind harassing the glass on his apartment. He couldn't breath. He couldn't breath. Suddenly the door bursts open and there's Mindy in her pajamas, her black cat Nico trailing behind her because he too was scared of the storm ravaging outside and decided to stick with his owner.

"Mark!?" She exclaimed worry and concern evident in her voice

"I can't breath." He wheezed out "I can't-" he tried sucking in air only to have his lungs just give up. His throat felt like it had closed up

"Oh my god!" she patted her pockets and found her inhaler, she hadn't had an attack in a year but she kept it with her just in case "I know your not asthmatic but this might help." She put it in his mouth and pressed then she looked him in the eyes "Come on Mark. You can breath, you can breath, you're on Earth where the atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen, 0.003% Carbon Dioxide and 21% Oxygen. Just breath with me Mark. In and out. In and out." He took big gulps of air on 'in' and shakily let it out on 'out' until his breathing was under control. Somehow during the whole ordeal Mindy had ended up cradling him in her arms, Nico looking on somewhat confused. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah I think so." They were silent for a second "Was that a panic attack?"

"Yeah. I mean I think so. I'm no doctor."

"Yeah." He realized they were still hugging "Thank you by the way. You know for saving me. Again."

"Anytime Mark." She repeated firmly "Seriously, anytime."

"How did you even know to come?"

"Chris called, said he tried to call you and you didn't pick up. He uuum... he said strong storms like this might be a trigger."

"I guess it is. Huh. Well it's lucky I live next to you Mindy."

The two stared at each other in the eyes. Mindy leaned closer. Mark didn't move away. She didn't even blink behind the frame of her glasses as she stared intensely.

A zap of lightning outside the window causes Nico to screech and the two humans to jump apart, scaring the moment away.

They awkwardly picked themselves off the kitchen floor. Words jumbling together as they tried to make the weirdness between them evaporate.


	2. 2) Now I Just Sit In Silence

**Now I Just Sit In Silence**

 **Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots**

The two NASA employees sat in Mark's car as they drove to work. They had been carpooling for 3 of the 4 weeks they'd been living together after 5 convective days of pulling up to a stop light only to find their cars right next to each other. They had decided it was easier and better for the environment if they just went to work together every day, taking it in turns to drive.

Surprisingly as of yet the paparazzi hadn't figured where Mark was now living (not for lack of trying) and there had only been a few candid amateur photos of him and Mindy driving together which Annie Montrose either explained away or had faded into obscurity like most media.

Today they talked and joked and listened to the radio as they made the 20 minute commute to NASA, choosing not to talk about what had happened last night and Watney dreading having to talk about it with his psychiatrist later today.

"So what's Venkat asking you to spy on this time?" Mark asked after the conversation had lulled

"He's got me watching Olympus Mons. Apparently some earth volcanists think it might erupt soon so I need to schedule in some satellite time that will satisfy them and study up on volcanoes."

"Olympus Mons huh? Didn't think that was going to erupt in my life time."

"Well we don't know for sure yet." She raised her eyebrows and then rapidly lowered them "it's my job to figure it out." She cringed "well mine and Pearce Kennedy's."

"He work in Sat Com too?"

"Yeah. He's the worst though. He's always being mean to this girl Rachel just because he can. I mean, I don't get it, we're all grown ups, we're not meant to get bullied like this."

Why didn't you tell Venkat or whoever your immediate boss is?"

"Well Rachel doesn't want to report him to HR or anyone and I don't want to be the one that snitches as much as he bugs me."

Mark laughed "Scared of getting stitches?" He sobered up "But it is messed up how we can be going to work and treated as if it were high school."

"Well that's life I guess." Mindy sighed as they pulled up in Mark's reserved parking space near the building (it was the least NASA could do after all).

"Well just promise me if this Pearce guy starts on you, you'll tell me. I'll sort him out. Or better yet __you__ sort him out, just sock him right in the face!"

She laughed "Don't worry Mark I won't let him start on me but if he does I'll tell you. I'd love to see him getting reprimanded by the famous Mark Watney!"

The two shared a laugh until Watney winced and clutched his rib. Using his free hand he fished around in his pocket for his bottle of Vicodin and swallowed two dry quickly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Mark tried to reassure her "Yeah. I'm fine."

She was sceptic but she nodded and went to open the car door wondering if he should be taking two and resolving to ask Beck later. Mark did the same on his side, taking care to lock the door behind him.


	3. 3) But The Truth Is I Can

**Work's My Excuse (But The Truth Is I Can't Open Up)**

 **I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner**

Mark sat awkwardly in from of Dr Shields. Even after a full month of therapy with the blond psychiatrist he still wasn't used to pouring his heart out to a practical stranger (even if she was attractive __and smart__ )

"Mark," she smiled at him "How are you?"

"Um. Well I guess I'm good..." How was he supposed to start these things, he didn't know.

"Relax Mark. Just pretend I'm Doctor Beck."

"You're way hotter than Beck." Mark scoffed

She laughed "Well then pretend I'm Johanssen, you two seem quite close."

"I'm not gonna do that.. I'll just speak. Well yesterday I had some sort of panic attack."

She looked surprised "That's your first one isn't it?"

"First one? There will be more? The first one was shit!"

"There usually are, but they get easier to deal with and lessen as you heal and luckily for you, you happen to have the best psychiatrist in all of Houston." she smiled again "Do you know what triggered the attack?"

"Last night's storm."

"Would you mind elaborating?"

"Oh right. It just... The wind and the sound just reminded me of the story on Sol 6. The one that stranded me on Mars in the first place."

"And how did you manage to calm yourself down?"

"Um my neighbour, Mindy, Mindy Park," His eyes lit up which she didn't fail to notice "She works in Sat Com here at NASA she busted into my apartment to find my sorry ass curled up on my kitchen floor and calmed me down, got me breathing right and everything."

She made a mental note to talk about people outside of the crew, she thought most of his issues and his support system would come from the ARES III crew but he seems to like Mindy a lot, she'd need to find a way to speak to her on the down low, she'd ask around. "So tell me about Mindy Park."

"Well she was the first person to notice I was alive. She looked at the ARES III co-ordinates, realised the solar panels had been cleaned and the rover moved, she found Lewis' logs and checked to see if the rover had been moved by her which they hadn't and they she freaked the fuck out and found Venkat's emergency number and called him up at what must have been 2 in the morning or something ridiculous."

"So you must feel like you owe her?"

"Well I mean I sort of __do__. I owe everyone at NASA who worked to bring me home but she was the first ya' know? The __first__. It's just... she's special. Plus she told me about the apartment next door to hers that was on sale so I could move out of my parent's house."

She really hoped Mark didn't just like her because she saved him, it was common for people to fall in love with their heroes only to realise they weren't in love with them but rather the idea of them, or sometimes out of a sense of gratitude or out of debt. "You seem to really like her."

"What's not to like! She's smart and she works at NASA so we can talk about space stuff but she's also cool, she knows some cool restaurants here in Houston, she even found a pizza place that has pizza almost as good as in Chicago! Do you know how hard that is?" He continued ranting about how amazing Mindy was only pausing so that Dr Siobhan Shields could ask a question or make a comment.

She smiled to her self wondering how long it would be before Mark was sitting in that sofa telling her that he and Mindy were dating. If it wasn't soon Siobhan swore she would have to interfere (even if she isn't a relationship councillor). She defiantly needed to speak to this __Mindy__. "Well Mark," she looked at her watch "It looks like that's our time. You have some work to do."

"Wow, today went really quick!" Mark got up and then winced sucking in a sharp breath "Ow."

"Are you okay?" Dr Shields stood up abruptly holding out a hand as if he were about to collapse and she was about to catch him

"Yeah, fine. Just my ribs sometimes." He fumbled in his jacket pocket, pulled out a bottle of Vicodin and popped it open and swallowed two dry with ease.

"Do you usually take two?" Siobhan asked with a frown

"Not usually, but it's okay, I haven't taken any today." Mark said with a straight face, his nose twitched slightly.

 _ _'LIES'__ but she nodded and smiled once more _ _'Note to self: Find out who proscribes him__ _ _ **t**__ _ ** _ **h**_**_ _ ** _ **at much**_**_ _ _Vicodin'__


	4. We'll Never Surrender TheKids InThe Dark

**We'll Never Surrender the Kids In The Dark**

 **Kids In The Dark by All Time Low**

 **Less than half an hour later:**

Siobhan found herself in the heart of Sat Com, large screens filled with pictures of space with people in front of almost every single one, most holding a cup of coffee or sipping on some Starbucks because everyone know NASA coffee sucks and people only drink it for the caffeine.

She looked around and then at the picture she had in her hand taken almost 3 years ago that she had gotten from Human Resources, how was she going to find Mindy Park amongst the sea of space paparazzi? She opened her mouth and sighed, guess she was going to have to do this the hard way, she prepared to shout Mindy's name into the room but was interrupted when she saw a tall man shove past a red head, subsequently knocking her onto the floor. A woman who she recognised instantly as Mindy Park helped her up staring daggers at the tall dark haired man who ignored the looks (she noticed) that __everyone__ was sending him. Looks like she had either found the boss of Sat Com or the bully, sometimes it was hard to tell. (Which was saying a lot about bosses)

When the man saw some people staring at him he snarled "What are you looking at?!" They all quickly turned away and got back to work as if this were a daily occurrence. He __must__ be the boss. No way could he have been allowed to operate like this without being reported to HR without the threat of being fired hanging over everyone's heads.

She observed him as he stole someone's pumpkin spice latte before they had even had a sip drink some spit it back and place it back on the table. The woman who's latte it was looked disgusted and offended but she didn't say anything, simply resigning herself to scowling at him behind his back.

Mindy and the red head were now off the ground and the red head was picking papers she had dropped off the floor. "Hey Pearce!" She said confidently but as soon as he turned around her confidence visibly crumpled, she clearly hadn't thought this through but now she couldn't back down.

"Yeah Park?" He started walking back towards her taking long menacing strides, trying to big himself up as much as possible. So his name was Pearce. She'd remember that.

"I-I- I want you... to apologise to Rachel." She gestured to the timid looking red head still on the floor who looked like a deer trapped in spotlights.

"Oh no... Really that's not necessary... I- I'm sure it was just an accident."

"But it wasn't an accident yesterday, or the day before, or last week and it wasn't an accident when he spat in Helen's coffee not three seconds ago-"

"-It was a latte-" Helen chimed in.

"-And it wasn't an accident when he made Cho cry last month because of his mother's condition and it wasn't an accident when he took credit for Suzette's work two months ago and you know what Pearce Kennedy!"

"What Park?"

"I'm done with you and your bullshit. We're God damn adults we should not resort to office bullying!"

Mindy was fierce when she was passionate, she liked that, and she had a good moral compass it was clear now that this man, Pearce, wasn't the boss but just a bully, a bully who no one had ever stood up to, a bully who everyone had allowed to step all over them for too long until someone finally snapped and Siobhan counted herself lucky that the one that snapped was Mindy.

Adult bullying may seem like an impossible thing, bullying is for children and whilst usually adult bullying takes the form of sabotaging underlings and intimidating colleagues, the fact that he was resorting to such juvenile tactics, pushing people, stealing peoples drinks shows he either had a terrible childhood or he was just a super asshole.

"Now who's with me!?" Mindy asked the room. for a terrifying moment it was silent. people looked at each other wondering who would be the first to join the rebellion. And then the terrifying moment became a couple of terrifying moments stretching until it became mortifying.

"Looks like no one else shares your sentiment. And let me tell you Park, you'll pay for this later." He spat back at her delighted and inflated by the fact that there was a room full of people too scared to stand up for him.

Siobhan decided to step in "Did you know Mr Kennedy that adult bullying is usually caused by low self-esteem or being bullied as a kid. Tell me, were you bullied as a kid?"

His nose twitched "No!" __'LIE'__

"You're a nerd."

"Excuse me?!" He took a threatening step closer to her.

"Don't worry you're in a room full of nerds! _I'm a nerd_ , but here's the thing. I know nerds, I know most of you were probably bullied as kids and most of you wanted to be astronauts when you were little and most of you didn't have many friends and I know most of you probably have self esteem issues but only one of you is lashing out in order to assert some sort of superiority to your colleagues which let me tell you is highly unbalanced."

"And who are you to tell me I'm 'unbalanced'?!"

"I'm Dr Shields. The best psychiatrist in all of Houston, Texas."

"Yeah well... You don't know me." He shoved past her and subsequently exited the giant room.

Everyone was silent once more and then they burst into applaud. Siobhan immediately started reprimanding them "Oh you clap now that he's gone but you won't stick up for your colleague? You guys are a bunch of sheeple! The lot of you! Stop clapping!" After 10 more second they stopped clapping. Dr Shields came towards Rachel and Mindy smiling at them "That took some guts Mindy."

"Likewise Dr Shields." They shook hands. Rachel thanked the two of them before scurrying off to do her work:

 _Timid_

 _Pushover_

 _Meek_

 _Mild mannered_

 _and very apologetic_

All good signs for a good victim, poor girls probably had to deal with bullies her whole life and never stopped being afraid of them, Pearce must have had fun with this one.

"So Dr Shields, what brings you down to Sat Com? I can't imagining you wanting photos of space."

"Please call me Siobhan and actually __you__ bring down here. See I'm Mark's psychiatrist."

"Oh. OH!" Her eyes widened as she realised who she was talking to.

"See when I took on Mark, I made it a point to talk to his crew, his parents but of course you are a new addition to his support system. So I'm here to talk to you Mindy Park tell me about yourself!"

"What's to tell? I'm Mindy Park, I'm from Seattle, I work at Sat Com. And I don't usually do __t__ _ _hat.__ "

"Oh come on! There's more to you than that! Why do work in Sat Com?"

"My mum. Well technically my dad."

"Care to elaborate?" Siobhan asked __M__ _ _ake them feel like they have a choice, like it was their decision.'__

"Uum well, see my dad died when I was pretty young so I never really knew him, my mum used to tell me he was in the stars so we used to sit outside in the garden and look at them trying to pick the best spot for him, eventually I learn to recognise constellations, my mum got me a telescope and as the light pollution got more we started hiking out to better star gazing spots to see them. By this point I knew my father didn't live in the stars I'm an atheist so I assumed he was just gone. Then one day I'm 16 years old my mum comes out and tells me my dad isn't dead. He was just a dead beat for two years I refuse to even look at the stars until it came to choose Colleges, and my course. What could I do? I was only ever really good at one thing. Stars. So I got a job at NASA as Sat Com and now I can look at stars when ever I want. I've grown up past my father I couldn't care less about him, they only good thing he ever did was leave so that I could start here and I could help Mark. Then again I'm sure if I wasn't here someone else would have helped him out."

"Don't give me that!" She waved her hand as if to dismiss Mindy's claim "Mindy! You saved him!"

"I've had this argument too many times with my mum to go over this again." Mindy sighed shaking her head softly.

"Okay you don't want to talk about what a hero you are? Let's talk about your cat. I hear he's called Nico. Why'd you call him that?"

"Uuum,blushing slightly, Mindy's eyes dropped to the floor before they managed to find their way back to Siobhan's "it's just a nice name."

"Come on I know that's not the reason."

"Okay fine, you got me. In this book series Percy Jackson there's this character called Nico he's my favourite."

"What's so embarrassing about that?"

"It's a series made for 12 year olds! I'm almost 30!"

"Let me tell you a secret. Sometimes it's good to hold onto your childhood. Growing up doesn't mean forgetting." Her watched beeped startling both woman "I need to go, I have a client." She started to leave but turned around to face Mindy once more "it was nice to meet you Mindy Park from Sat Com."

"Likewise Siobhan Shields, best psychiatrist in Houston." They nodded at each other and then both went to do their respective jobs.

Siobhan decided she liked Mindy, she was a good person and would help Mark a lot as he grappled with his PTSD. And she might even make a great Mrs Mindy Watney. Mindy Watney-Park. Mindy Park-Watney. Or maybe Mark could take her surname, Mark Park. __oh God no.__ Definitely not.


	5. 5) You Can't Wake Up This Is Not A Dream

**And All the People Say 'You Can't Wake Up, This is Not A Dream.'**

 **Gasoline by Halsey**

Mark sat in his office switching between writing his paper on growing things on Mars and turning his logs (and a bunch of stuff that happened on Earth) into a book.

When he had to read through his logs he started getting flashbacks and so he would switch to potatoes, the science and hard facts making it easier to detach himself from it.

Writing at his desk wasn't his whole job, sometimes students would come to NASA and he'd give tours or lectures, answer questions, and Annie had him working press sometimes, answering __more__ questions. A lot of what he did now a days was related to Mars, it made hanging out with the crew weird because they were __there__ they were there on Mars and then they left him and sure they came back but when he looks at them all he can think about is how they __left__ him on Mars and the time he spent up there alone on that red hell.

As his thought went down that track Mark found his breathing become laboured. _In_ _ _and out Mark__ he felt like a heavy weight was in his chest squeezing out all the oxygen. He tried to concentrate on breathing but all he could think  
 _ _the communication dish slammed into him knocked the air out of his lungs. He reached out for Beth's outstretched arms but then she was gone, lost in a haze of red dust and he was out like a light.__

 _ _He was blown several feet backwards by the airlock his helmet smashed and the only sound he could hear was the hissing sound which meant if he didn't act fast he'd be dead very soon. He could feel the cold drifting in from the outside. Desperate to live, he taped up the gaping hole in his helmet and prayed to any God or gods that it would hold. He finally sealed the breach in the airlock and slammed his body into the side of the rectangular structure. Once.__

 _ _BANG.__

 _ _Twice.__

 _ _BANG.__

 _ _Thrice.__

BANG.

Mark was startled out of his waking nightmare by his door smacking against the wall as someone swung it open. He managed to catch his breath as he looked up at who ever had intruded.

"Mark I've been knocking on your door for 20 seconds, why didn't you answer me?" Annie Montrose asked from the door frame looking slightly pissed

"Sorry I..." he trailed off unsure what to say then repeated "sorry."

"Whatever it's fine," she stepped into his office "The Mark Watney Report cut down from being everyday to every week and they were wondering if you would be on it one of these days."

As she had been speaking Mark had popped 2 Vicodin pills just to take the edge off witch Annie hasn't taken any notice of " um yeah sure I'd love to. What days would it be?"

"A Friday at 7 PM. It's live but I know that's not an issue for you."

"Do they have a quest lined up for this week?"

"Not yet no."

"Well I'll do it this Friday. I'm not doing anything." He thought for a second "Wait has the rest of the crew been on it yet?"

"We're currently trying to arrange a joint interview with Lewis and the commander of ARES II as well as an interview with Beck and Johansson about their announced relationship and hooking up in space."

"How comes Vogel gets to skip out?"

"He's busy with European press. Those guys are a whole different ballpark let me tell you!"

"Ha I do not envy Vogel!" He let out a chuckled and then winced quickly and efficiently downing another tablet.

"Did you not just take one of those?" Annie asked having a sense of deja vu

"I- yeah. My ribs are just really acting up today."

"Well you should ask Beck for the stronger stuff."

"Wish I could, Beck's no longer my doctor. My current medical doctor, Dr Carter is being very stingy with the drugs."

"Eh, well I'm sure it's for the best."

"Yeah. For the best."


	6. Candid Camera(Cost You To Keep Me Quiet)

**Candid Camera (Cost You To Keep Me Quiet)**

 **Aha! by PTX**

Mark looked up when Mindy knocked on his office door and let herself in. "You ready?"

"What?"

"It's six. End of our work days."

He looked surprised "It's six already? Wow! I didn't even notice. Uum yeah I'm ready, let me just put this stuff away." He saved all his files and closed his laptop before safely tucking it into his laptop case backpack. He unplugged his phone and put it safely in his pocket before looking carefully around the room once more to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Mark spied a cup of coffee and picked it up without thinking, he immediately took a sip and promptly spat it out again "Uuug. This has been here since two days." He cringed in disgust.

"Ew." Was Mindy's only comment

"Yeah. Gross." He put the cup back down and grabbed his keys and his jacket

"You know, maybe if you didn't keep putting it back you wouldn't end up drinking two day old coffee."

"Oh well look at you Hindsight Lad telling me what I could have done."

Mindy scoffed "Did you just reference a comic book character from like _fifty_ years ago?"

"Yes I did. Now let's blow this popsicle stand!" They started walking down the hallway ignoring the few stares they got from NASA interns and new employees catching their first glimpse of American hero Mark Watney.

"Speaking of otter pops, can we get some food? I missed lunch." Mindy had learnt that when with Mark it was best to ignore any spectators (Unless they were children in which case Mark would drag her to them and joke around with them and even sign stuff for them)

"Take out or eating in?" Mark held open a door for her and she thanked him with a nod.

"I know how particular you Chicago boys are about pizza but I was thinking we could go to that pizza place down on Space Park Drive?" **(Space Park Dr is a real road near Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston aka NASA as is the restaurant)**

"Oh!" Mark exclaimed remembering "You mean Franca's Real Italian Restaurant? Isn't there one closer? Like Pomodoro's or something?"

Mindy cringed slightly "Yeah but Franca's is better, trust me.

"Okay than, Franca's it is." Mark reach for the handle of his black Prius before remembering he hadn't unlocked it. He quickly looked up to check if Mindy had witnessed his blunder but she didn't seem to notice. Hurriedly fixing his mistake he unlocked the car and got in, Mindy followed suit.

They drove discussing this and that until they came to a stop light and watched as an old couple hobbled across the street taking way longer than the light stayed red to get across "So how comes you missed lunch anyway?"

"Oh well," Was she supposed to mention that she had talked to his therapist? Was that a breach of trust that would set him back or something? Or maybe em not/em telling him was a breach of trust. Was this a test? "That guy Pearce, he was being a juvenile jerk again so I kind of... stood up to him."

"Oh my God Mindy!"

"Are you mad?"

"Mad? The only thing I'm mad at is that you didn't call me to come watch! But I still don't get how that translates to you missing lunch." He realised the couple were finally out of his way and floored it getting through the lights just before they turned red and trapping the car behind them at the front of an impatient queue of cars.

"Oh well... when things settled back down again I got back to my desk to find that something had changed about Olympus Mons!"

"What?! No way!"

"Yeah! A large rock that has been sitting near the top for weeks fell to the bottom! There was no strong wind, there was no detectable tremors and there was no lava but it definitely moved so I spent the rest of the day researching probable causes of the shift and emailing my findings to different NASA geologists."

"Do you really think Olympus Mons is going to erupt any time soon?" Mark asked his eyes sparkling with wonder for what was beyond Earth.

Mindy smiled as she realised that this was the mark he was before Sol 6, the Mark she had heard about in his eulogies, from his parents, on social media, the Mark who wondered about the stars, who wanted to explore the unknown even if he was the 18th person on Mars. "I hope so. I really do. Can you imagine how much we could find out about Mars' core if it erupted?"

"I imagine a lot." Mark grinned as they pulled up outside Franca's and parked.

When they walked into the restaurant they were greeted by an African-American waitress wearing the Franca's uniform, a plain black pencil skirt and a white blouse with a black blazer that fitted her form nicely, She was very curvy and her afro was tamed into two cute looking pom poms. The waitress - who had introduced herself as Naomi - recognised him instantly, they could tell by the way her eyes widened as she did a double take at him before looking at her boss who wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her "Uuum... I assume you want a table in the back?" She said awkwardly as she clutched her electronic ordering device as if it were her lifeline.

Mark smiled at her warmly "We'd really appreciate that thank you."

Mindy couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of jealousy at how warmly he had smiled at her before she managed to push it away with the reminder that Mark was friendly to everyone and what right did she have to be jealous anyway.

As Naomi led them to a table near the back she quickly checked around to see if anyone had noticed that _Mark freaking Watney had just walked into Franca's_ but no one had (or at least no one cared).

She handed them two menus once they were seated and told them she'd be back in 10 minutes but they could call her back before hand if they were ready.

Mark celebrated with a fist pump when he saw deep dish was an option on the menu "I'm totally getting a meat lovers supreme!" He said reading the menu.

Mindy looked at what he was reading and snorted "It says it's 18 inches. Can you eat 18 inches?"

Mark stares at her for a second then reads the menu again where it does indeed say 18 inches "Do you want to share?"

"I'd love to." Mindy grinned

"God. Can you imagine me trying to eat a 18 inch pizza by myself."

"I honestly think Chris would kill you if you tried."

The two ceased laughing just as Naomi came back "So have you guys ordered?"

"Yep." Mark smiled at her again "We'll have a 20 inch meat lovers pizza please."

"And drinks?"

Mark looked at Mindy knowingly and she nodded "Two fantas please. Oh and if you have straws..."

"Got it meat lovers supreme and 2 fantas with straws." She was about to leave when she hesitated "I'm sorry but I have to ask... are you two dating?"

Mindy exclaimed (maybe a little too fast) "No!"

Mark looked over at her at her reaction "Gee, thanks."

"What no! I mean it's not like there's anything bad about you I'd love to date date you," Mark raised an eyebrow "I mean I would not be opposed to it had I been dating you... which I am not." She inhaled loudly and exhaled the words "Someone just kill me now." Getting quieter as her sentence went on until she ended on a grumble.

Naomi laughed "Okay than, I'll take _that_ as a no."

Once Naomi had left Mark laughed at Mindy's flushed red face "Wow. That was-"

"- A hot mess I know." Mindy interrupted

"Hot? Yes, but I was going to say amazing."

Mindy blushed " _Mark!_ " She exclaimed slightly embarrassed

"Hey! Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just delivering the trust!" He held up his hands in mock surrender.

"You really think I'm hot?"

"You don't?"

"I'm a NASA nerd, I don't go to parties, I don't have a tan, I don't wear skirts or dresses like em ever/em I'm just not that kind of person."

"Mindy let me tell you a secret. Your personality which I what you were just describing makes you beautiful, your face makes you hot and you Mindy Park are both." The two stared at each other silently, looking deep into each other's eyes. Mark leaned slightly in and Mindy did the same. Suddenly his phone rang, Mark sighed and abruptly pulled away as he answered "Watney." He paused "Oh hi Annie- oh sorry not a social call, what's the problem?" He paused for a second a small frown forming on his face "Okay I'm checking the link you sent me one sec." He pulled the phone from his face and clicked the link, it led him to a twitter account. His eyes widened and he showed Mindy

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed

There were a couple pictures all of him and Mindy sitting in Franca's talking and laughing.

They had captions like these:

 **Is that freaking Mark Watney on a date at Franca's?**

 **It is #MarkWatney! Guys MarkWatneyAstro is at Franca's Italian! Should I say hi?**

 **I searched who the girl was, that's MindyPark she works for NASA too. Apparently her and Mark are close!**

"People know who I am?!" Mindy asked slightly panicked

"I am em so, so/em sorry." Mark said looking around suspiciously for the culprit who had taken the photots.

"No, it's not your fault. I'm sure it will be fine." Mindy smiled reassuringly

Just as she said that a CNN reporter, a FOX News guy, an Entertainment Weekly (EW! News) woman and an immature reporter looking for a scoop to make her news blog famous burst into the restaurant.

Mark shook his head "Famous last words." pause "Is that CNN?"

Naomi was suddenly by their side holding a pizza box "The paparazzi is here so I made this to go."

"Thank you so much, you are a life saver!" The two NASA employees gathered up their stuff and Naomi led them towards the kitchen so they leave the back way.

As they hurried through the kitchen a woman who quickly introduced herself as Flanca asked if she could have a picture.

Mark glanced at the door before agreeing and they took a quick selfie.

"Thank you!" Flanca shouted after them "And I'm really sorry about the paparazzi!"

"You know those paparazzi aren't as good as you." Mark joked

"Of course not, I'm Space paparazzi. I'm a whole new league!" Mindy joked back

"I'm sorry you got caught up in all this."

"Really Mark, it's not your fault. You don't need to apologise." She scrolled through her twitter feed "Besides, all my old university buddies are asking if we're dating. They're all so jealous, it's hilarious."

Mark asked "Did they get any photos of us leaving?"

"Yeah a couple. Naomi even got tagged. Ha and Flanca's sharing that selfie you guys took."

Mark looked at her phone "I'll say, 800 retweets in less than half an hour?"

"Yeah well patient zero has almost one and a half K likes and retweets."

"Who was it anyway?"

"Some guy called KyRogen KyintheSky on twitter."

"Ky in the sky? Wowza."

"Oh like MarkWatneyAstro is any better?"

"Well MarkWatney and MarkWatneyNASA were taken! And putting astronaut at the end is just lame!"

She frowned "Doesn't Martinez do that?"

" _Exactly..._ "


	7. 7) Like The Air I Breath, I Let You In

**Like The Air I Breathe, I Let You In**

 **The Ocean by Mike Perry and Shy Martin**

When Mark and Mindy arrived at work the next morning (Mindy drove today) Martinez was standing out front waiting for them a shit-eating grin on his face "Well if it isn't my favourite couple."

"Oh fuck you Martinez." Mark cursed at him light heartedly.

"For once I agree." Mindy laughed

"Wow NASA's best space couple is ganging up on me!" Martinez yelled at the same time a random NASA employee walked past, he gave them a weird look until he realised that two of them were the ARES III crew and walked straight into a lamp pole "Whoops. SORRY!"

Mark smothered his laugh and instead opted for his witty jab at the rest of the crew members "Oh come on we all know Chris and Beth are NASA's best power couple."

Rick snorted but then sobered up "I actually came here to ask your opinion of something."

"Sure, shoot."

Mindy suddenly felt out of place amongst the two old friends and looked away (Not that that would help)

"I- They-" He choked before taking a deep breath and trying again "NASA have offered me the Commanding position of the ARES IV mission."

Mark stared at him for what must have been 15 seconds and Rick stared at him back unsure what to say "Do you want to go?"

"I don't know."

"If you want to go, you should go. Mars is a once in a life time-" He grudgingly described it as an "-Opportunity."

"Are you sure?"

"Rick, you're one of my best friends in the world and I can tell you're asking me in case I go like catatonic or something go ahead man, you've been dreaming of Mars for years and you didn't exactly get the best experience last time. And as Commander no less, you should go for it man!"

"But what if," Rick asked quietly "What if I end up making the same decision Lewis did? What if I leave someone on Mars?"

"Firstly, it was a hard decision but it was the right one and secondly, I assure you Martinez after me they're going to make sure emthis/em never happens again. Better storm warnings, better communications, they'll make this one fool proof, trust me, NASA's not going to risk anything like me happening again."

Rick nodded "You're right. You're right, of course they'd fix all the flaws. I'm so stupid!"

"Rick it's natural to worry. Or so my therapist says, and she's a trained professional. But you should try and come to grips before your next round of physiologist tests."

Rick groaned "Uug I'm going to have to talk to Dr Boring again. I swear he was the worst, why did NASA even hire him?"

"Yeah, he's not the best is he. I mean I literally told him I thought of Aquaman during my ten days isolation, Beth was asleep at his table, Chris was awkward as always and Vogel told him he was German and he wasn't afraid of anything and let all of us go on the mission without one bad note."

Rick laughed and turned to Mindy "I told the guy I jerked off for ten days. Left handed."

"Oh my God, you guys are impossible. All of you, how does Melissa deal with you?"

They walked into the building and then separated Mindy heading to SatCon, Mark to his daily session with Dr Shields and Rick to find Beck in the medical wing to ask his opinion on being Commander for ARES IV.

Dr Irene Siobhan Shields sat across from Mark like they did everyday.

"But it just annoys me that me eating pizza with Mindy was deemed more news worthy than the Earthquake that hit the Philippines last night! I mean people died, people are still missing and people care more that I might be dating some random NASA employee. It's crazy! And messed up."

"The news shows us what we need to know but it's still a TV show, it's still a business, they'll also show what you want to know. And to them American hero eating pizza and possibly dating is better than 100s confirmed dead. It's just the way humans are, I won't pretend to understand why."

"Should I tweet something? Like 'My heart goes out to those effected' blah blah blah."

"I think Annie's made it quite clear you shouldn't insert yourself into big events like this."

"She said politics!"

"She said _like_ politics. I think natural disasters fall into that category." Shields said almost condescendingly.

"Okay fine, I won't say anything. It just really-" He had forgotten the phrase from lack of use "What's that phrase?"

"Busts your chops?" She asked only knowing one phrase that fitted into that sentence.

"What?" He looked at her weirdly.

"It means it annoys you." She explained.

"Um well it's not what I was thinking of but sure it busts my chops."

After some more conversation the session ended and he got up to leave "Wait, you're on the Watney Report tonight right?" Siobhan asked

"Yeah."

She jotted something in her book "Okay well good luck, I hope you have fun."

"I will, thanks." he paused again "Oh wait.. could you do me a favour?"

"Sure- well actually it depends."

"Could you talk to Marteniz? He got offered the Commanding role for ARES IV and he's understandable nervous. He wants to take it but he's... scared. And scarred"

"That, I can do. I'll talk to him Mark and I'll be subtle, I'll make it seem like the big bosses asked me to check in on him after hearing about ARES IV."

"Thanks."


	8. 8) I Was Out Of Touch

**Well Out There I Was Out Of Touch (But It Wasn't Because I Didn't Know Enough)**

 **Crazy by Gnarls Barkely**

"The date is Friday 6th August, the time is 7 PM and t he show is The Watney Report on CNN!" The bubbly blond who had been hosting the show since Mark got back to earth laughed "I'm Kate Wilson giving you your weekly dose of Watney!"

Since the situation with Mark had become a lot less dire, they had switched the shows direction completely, it was less scientific, there were less stakes, talks about things that really mattered. In short it had turned into nothing more but a tabloid show about astronauts hosted by a dumb blonde. Make no mistake, Kate Wilson wasn't dumb by any stretch of the word but she had started off as eye candy and had worked her way up the ranks using her looks because no one took her seriously otherwise. It was too late in her career to change her tactics and she still had her looks and she had been just what CNN was looking for when they fired her predecessor and so Kate owned it, known amongst reporters as the chameleon because of how she went from typical dumb blond to as sharp as a knife in seconds, cutting her guests after having lulled them into a false sense of security.

"Today we have some fresh gossip, an amazing guest and we'll be reading some tweets from you guys. Everything is live so if you tweet in to TheWatneyReport_CNN em right now/em you could get featured on our show! KyintheSky on Twitter captured some candid photos of Mark Watney and fellow NASA employee Mindy Park laughing over fantas at Flanca's Real Italian Restaurant in Houston Texas. They were tracked down by multiple news outlets and were seen making a quick escape through the kitchen. Although it apparently wasn't that quick if they had time to take this picture!" She pointed to a picture of Mark and Flanca smiling at the camera "This photo has been doing it's rounds on social media initially posted by Flanca herself as that's her in the photo." A few memes of the picture flashed on the large screen behind her. "And now over to our special guest! Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the Martian hero himself, Mark Watney!"

"Hi Kate!" Mark stepped on screen smiling at her and the camera.

"Lovely to have you here Mark!"

"It's lovely to be had." He grinned wondering how she kept up such energy throughout the whole show.

"I'll admit when I asked the producer if he could get you on here I wasn't expecting you to be on this week!"

"Well I thought I'd check out a show that's about me. It seems only right."

"And?"

"And I love it! Although I have to ask... how does everyone know Mindy?"

"NASA employees are a matter of public record, you just need to know where on the World Wide Web to look! And well apparently Ky is a fan if he knew where." She turned to Mark "So what did you two do after you left Flanca's?"

"Uum. Well we drove to her place hung out for a bit, ate the pizza, laughed at all the Flanca memes that had already cropped up and then she dropped me home." He didn't mention that by 'dropping him home' he actually meant 'poked her head out of her front door and watched his go into his own apartment from right next door'.

"Flana must be getting so much free advertisement from this. I mean and American hero ate there."

He laughed at that although he still didn't know how he felt about being called an American Hero "Well I mean, Mindy recommended the place and we didn't _technically_ eat there, we ate food from there in a different location."

"You must be pretty unused to being chase out of restaurants by the press, having been a down to earth Chicagoan astronaut and then to the only man on an entire planet and then to an American Hero. How are you adjusting to your new found fame?"

"I'm doing pretty well right now. No one knows where I live and I don't get hounded or followed around and I love seeing little kids light up when they realise I'm an astronaut it's so cute."

Kate risked a glance at the producer/director behind the camera signalling for her to wrap it up "Before we go to commercials can I ask you one last question?"

"Sure." Mark replied warmly.

Kate did her own subtle signal that they all new meant 'cut before he answers' "I'm sure I'm not the only one who's dying to know: Are you and Mindy Park dating?" Mark immediately opened his mouth to answer having been left out of the loop but he was cut off by Kate "Stick around for the break and find out when we return where we'll also read your tweets."

The camera cut and the man behind it gave them the 'okay' signal.

Mark shook his head in a slightly fond manner "Wow Annie would be jealous of your media skills. You gave them a hook, now they have to stay."

Kate smiled at that "Huh. No Annie probably thinks I'm a joke of a reporter."

"What? Why would she?" Mar seemed confused

"I made my career off my looks and I host a tabloid show, she's the PR Director of _NASA_ That's like... that's on a different level from me."

"Oh come on don't sell yourself short. You managed to keep this show interesting despite the fact that there's not much drama around me any more. I think that deserves some credit."

She scoffed but she dropped the subject when the director yelled "ONE MINUTE!" to the whole studio.

"Come on," She started walking to a plush bright red sofa "Let's go to the guest sofa."

Mark sat down "Oh this is comfy!"

"I picked this out myself. Told them I would only do the show if they got rid of the brown one from before. That thing was putrid."

"Yeah I saw that, I think it was to make it seem more serious." he laughed "Although Annie says she would have gone for Black."

"THIRTY SECONDS! PLACES EVERYONE!"

"Mark when the camera comes back on we need to look like we've just been talking."

Mark frowned at her "We have just been talking though..."

"TEN SECONDS!"

"Just pretend you stopped laughing when he does the count down."

"Do people really do that?"

"FIVE!"

Mark chuckled

"THREE!"

"Wow, TV is a lie." He had made himself laugh just in time.

"TWO!" The director held his hand and brought it down quickly and mouthed at them 'rolling'

Of course Mark didn't see that because he was recovering from his small fit of laughter.

Kate looked right at the camera "And welcome back to the Mark Watney Report on CNN. If you're just joining us now I'm here with special guest Mark Watney the man of the hour himself. Before we went to break I ask mark a very important question." a clip of her asking Mark if he was dating Mindy played on the screen "Now it's time to find out the answer, Mark?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint all you Mark park shippers that have sprung up almost overnight but we are not dating." He paused "usually I'd make a joke about not yet at least but if I did I honestly think Annie Montrose would kill me."

"You must spend a lot of time with Annie Montrose seeing as she works Public Relations and you're NASA biggest star."

"Well yeah we do spend some time together at work but outside work as well, Annie, Mindy, Rich and Venkat have become important members of the crew. And by crew I mean the ARES III crew, the 10 of us hang out regularly."

Kate racked her mind for a 'Rich' "Rich Purnell?"

"The one and only!"

She remembered reading his file thinking he was some what unremarkable and about the worst person to interview "How did he work his way into your group?"

Mark looked a little surprised she didn't know "Oh boy do I have the biggest scoop for you!"

"Do spill!" Kate said eagerly

"Rich was the guy who came up with the HERMES slingshot idea. To the NASA higher ups it was called 'The Rich Purnell Manoeuvre' but to everyone else it was simply known as 'Project Elrond'."

Kate looked at him sideways "From Lord of the Rings?"

"Ha yeah exactly like that. See before they em decided/em to go through with it, it was kept under wraps, need to know basis only. Had they gone with the other plan I'd probably be dead, I can't believe this isn't common knowledge the guy's a genius! And he saved my life, he was instrumental in bringing me home!"

"Seems even now new information is coming to light about Mark Watney's rescue, you heard it on CNN first. And now times to read your tweets!" She looked at the screen that was behind them as a tweet popped up.

( **btw real person, fake tweet. Also that took way to long I'm just gonna do it the old fashioned way.)**

"Well Yanie I'm glad I could help you get through this in anyway possible. But really, a lot of people have messaged me saying I helped them get through something difficult and all I can say is that you guys, you all helped _me_ get through this. All your support from the moment you found out I was alive to the moment I touched down to the moment I got out of hospital you guys have been their giving me your support, so while I'm honoured I helped you, I'm also grateful that you helped me."

 **Rees Mullins Laughing_Leo**

 **Mark you are the absolute coolest! You're my actual hero, I've always wanted to be an astronaut and your courage has made me determined!**

"Maybe one day I'll be giving you a tour of NASA. You keep trying, keep your grades up, concentrate in school because believe it or not all the stuff you learn that seems useless actually saved my life. Also if you want to be an astronaut I suggest having some sort of secondary skill, not because I don't think you could make it but because some missions require it. I'm an engineer and a botanist, Chris is a doctor and an EVA specialist. Two skills, it's useful."

They got a couple more tweets like this Mark replying to each one.

On the other side of the studio an intern boredly clicked on tweets to show up on the screen. She saw one she liked and went to click on it but yawn at the same time. He finger missed it by a millimetre and she ended up clicking on a different tweet.

 **Who fucking cares about Mark Watney? Why don't u kill yourself? U've probs thought about it alot when you were alone in space with morphine.**

Kate froze looking from the screen and then at Watney unsure what exactly to do "Uum." For once she was at a loss of words. She glanced nervously at her director who seemed to be panicking too much to be productive "Technical difficulties." She said before getting up and pulling out a bunch of plugs on the screen. The screen went dark and she stood there for a second holding some wires in her hand. She quickly checked the clock that was behind the camera and saw that the show was about to end and the director hadn't called it because he was too mortified to move. "You've been watching The Watney Report on CNN with Kate Wilson." She said weakly "Tune in next Friday for your weekly dose of Watney." Usually she would plug their social media but this week it was probably better if she didn't. The camera man wasn't sure what to do and the director was no help so she had to make an 'end the show' gesture live on air.

The camera cut and the CNN jingle played sinfully cheerful in a room full of tension.

"WHAT," Kate yelled "WAS THAT!?"

The intern stood shakily "I- I-I'm so sorry I-It was an accident."

"Sorry? I don't give a flying fuck whether you're sorry or not this is a disaster!" She ran a hand through her hair and turned away from the useless intern and towards Mark, she suddenly noticed that he hadn't spoken since the tweet had appeared on the screen and she managed to calm down just enough to try and comfort Mark. She sat next to him and asked softly "Are you okay?" She got no reply "Mark?" she gently placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped as if he had forgotten anyone else was there.

"What?"

"I asked if you were okay." Kate repeated, paraphrasing herself

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He pulled out a bottle of Vicodin and chugged two tablets down "Absolutely fine."

Kate tried to keep the scepticism off her face when she asked "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." His voices sounded strained, like he couldn't breath, he cleared his throat and repeated "Yeah, fine. Could I get some water?"

Kate immediately had four glasses and bottles being handed to her, she picked one and gave it to Mark. She suddenly became aware that there was a room full of people watching them. Mouthing at them to leave she shooed the ones who didn't need to be there away (some people had to deal with cameras, mics and someone was fixing the TV)

After Watney had drunken the water he looked a little better although still not 100%. She couldn't help but worry if the tweet had been a trigger. He had been alone on that planet with enough morphine to kill 7 people for two years, how many times had he wanted to kill himself? How many times had he held a syringe to his arm and forced himself not to stick it in?

Kate thought of her sister, who had died from a drug overdose many years before. She wondered if she was projecting those feelings onto Mark when she lurched forward and hugged him tightly.

He seemed as shocked as she was but he relaxed into it, letting his head rest on her shoulder. When they broke apart Mark smiled, less warmly and more politely and told her he should probably get to driving him.

Kate offered to drive him.

Watney refused the offer saying "I'm fine to get home on my own really Kate."

"Mark I don't think-" She started trying to find a way to word it without calling him crazy or suicidal "I really think you should let someone drive you home."

Mark raised an eyebrow at that "What? You don't think I should be alone right now?" He asked the clichéd question

"Nothing like that!" She insisted

"Bullshit!" he yelled at her, a wild glint in his eye "It's exactly like that!" He balled up his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white "You think I'm going to get in my car and drive it off a bridge."

She hadn't know Mark long but something told her he didn't get angry easily, but clearly she had touched a nerve and she was reminded that as pleasant as this man had been to her, he was a man who spent two years alone on a desert planet, some astronauts got depression or anxiety from space, Mark could just be out-and-out crazy, he was unpredictable, he could attack her, he could do emanything/em. The thought had her taking an involuntary step back, the nervous look in her eye must have made him realise that he needed to calm down.

"I'm sorry." He said "That was- that was uncalled for. I'm sorry." He too had taken a step back as if he couldn't bear to be any closer to her.

"It's fine." She sent him a weak smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Suddenly she didn't feel quite as confident, driving him home the the matter still stood that he shouldn't be alone.

And then her saviour from this very awkward situation came bursting onto set followed by 4 security guards doing absolutely nothing. "Ms Wilson, we're so sorry this woman just burst in insisting she knew Mark."

Kate looked over and there in all her SatCon glory was Mindy Park "She does know Mark. Let her in."

Mindy scowled at Kate (understandably so she didn't know the tweet was an accident) "Mark I'm driving you home right now, end of discussion, come on." Then she spun around on her heels and marched out the door.

Mark looked from the still closing door and then to Kate "I... better go." And then he ran after her.


	9. So Baby Pull Me Closer In The Back Seat

**So Baby Pull Me Close In The Back Seat Of Your Rover**

 **Closer by Halsey and Chainsmokers**

Mindy and Mark drove in silence for a while and than Mindy asked "Are you okay?"

He was about to say yes, he was about to assure her as much as he tried to assure Kate that he was fine but the memory of _Kate stepping away from him, genuinely terrified for her safety, genuinely scared of_ _ **Mark.**_ _His fists curled up so tight and all he could see was red, blood pumping in his ears and for a second he honestly thought he was about to hit her but he saw the fear in her eyes the same way she had seen the crazy in his own_ and he crumbled "No." His voice cracked, his throat burned the way it did when he was kid and he tried not to cry but it was to no avail as he felt hot tears spill out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "I could have killed myself so many times on Mars, Mindy, I _wanted_ to so many times."

"So what stopped you?" Mindy asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"My parents, the crew, the human instinct- no the need to stay alive no matter what."

"People commit suicide all the time Mark, and they're not stranded alone on a planet so tell me why you didn't. Come on Mark, it's me."

And with those few words Mark started babbling, like she had broken a dam "I was going to Mindy! I was going to take two does of morphine and just end it all on sol 7 but then I didn't and I don't know why I just couldn't end it like that so I counted the food rations and decided I would try to get in contact with NASA so I could at least say my goodbyes. But then I started speaking to NASA and they had all these plans to get me back to Earth or at least send me food and it hit me how many people must be working on it and so I didn't kill myself for all of them. And when the airlock exploded there was a hole in my helmet and a leak in the airlock and I was just going to wait it out because I couldn't stand the fighting any more I just- aaag! But I didn't I rolled the god damn airlock as close to the HAB as I could and lived. And when I broke Pathfinder I- I was so mad at myself I wanted to scream, I did scream but that only reminded me that no one could hear me because I was alone! I was so, so alone and I couldn't take it and I- I-I-" His heavy heaves of breath cut him off as he sobbed.

Mindy leaned over the hand brake and the PRNDL stick and hugged the sobbing man close to her, holding his head to the crook of her neck "It's okay Mark. You're not alone any more, I'm here, I'll always be right here, right next door or in the office downstairs and you have the whole crew, and Dr Shields. Mark the whole crew love you so much, I-" She choked a bit being overtaken with emotion "I love you so much."


	10. 10) You Don't Wanna Be High Like Me

**You Don't Want To Be High Like Me**

 **I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner**

After Mark had finished sobbing Mindy had separated herself from him and driven them both home thinking about how mad Mindy would be if a police officer pulled over to help only to find American Hero Mark Watney balling like a baby in the shotgun seat of Mindy's Black Mini Cooper Countryman.

When they had gotten home they had said goodbye at the door like they usually did and went into their respective apartments as if today hadn't happened. Mindy immediately slumped down onto the floor in front of her entrance and wondered if Mark would pretend that she hadn't just confessed her love for him, or whether he would even take it in the right context seeing as she had just said the crew loved him too. And Mindy know they did, boy did she know they loved him but she really hoped it wasn't in the same way she loved him otherwise things could get real weird, real fast.

She cursed herself for basically putting herself in the friend zone and lumping herself in with the rest of his friends. It had taken so long to even say the words to Mark and now she'd have to work up the nerve to say them again all because of her bad timing, that being said, her words had seemed to have had a calming effect on Mark which was good.

She contemplated this still lying face down on the floor for a while until her black feline jumped onto the back of her head and startled her out of her thoughts "Oh come here Nico. Honestly I never know if you're good luck or bad luck these days. The way my life's been going I'm guessing you switch everyday. As soon as a get some good luck you turn it all around and then I have to use the next day's good luck just trying to get back to where I started." She turned onto her back and lifted him off her face "And how many times have I told you not to sit on my face Nico!" She light-heartedly scolded the black cat not really mad at his disobedience he simply replied with a small "meow." which Mindy could have sworn meant 'I don't give a f*ck'. Slowly she got up kicked off her shoes and padded to the kitchen laying Nico on the counter top as she made herself some tea.

Her land lord had reinstalled hot water taps into most of the apartments including her's and Mark's so she had no need for a kettle and was done making her tea in ten seconds having grabbed a mug and chucked in a tea bag and some sugar before running under the fossit.

She sat on her couch curled up with her cat and her drink and watched the News wondering what devastating world event of cute animal sitting had taken place in the past day. She almost spat out her tea when an image of Mark looking absolutely shell shocked at the last tweet cycled through the news and then a very blurry image of em here/em storming past security guards as they all went to stop her and than another one (although still very blurry was definitely taken on a higher quality camera) of her and Mark getting back into her car, thankfully her number plate was blurred out but because of her brief internet fame from the Flanca affair it wouldn't take Batman (or Sherlock) to deduce from those grainy images that it was her coming to Mark's rescue. She sighed as she picked up her phone and clicked 5. 5 was Annie Montrose's speed dial. She liked Annie, she really did but she hated having to talk to her about media stuff, especially if she was involved.

"Mindy!" She answered cheerfully "I wasn't expecting your call!"

"Um yeah, I'm not sure if this is an issue or not but uuum... Have you seen today's Watney Report?"

Annie sighed "I really hoped the weird way it cut from a twitter question to Kate awkwardly saying goodbye was on purpose." He good mood deflated "What happened."

"Well they were reading tweets from people and most of them were really nice but one was just awful Annie, telling him to kill himself and such and well of course Kate shut the screen of immediately claiming technical difficulties but Mark's reaction even over a television screen just broke my heart so I was going to call him but then I realised, it was only 5 minutes away and Mark had taken a cab there so I jumped in my car stormed past security and dragged him outta there as fast as I could and there are pictures. Albeit blurry security footage pictures but they're on the news and people are going to figure out it's me."

"It's fine. This is fine. It's not too bad, I can handle this, especially since you told me so early. I may need a statement or something from you later but right now, we should be good. Thanks for informing me Mindy, I know you don't like telling me about this stuff."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Mindy you practically flinch when I even talk PR in front of you yet alone when you try talking to me. It's like watching someone with a nervous twitch."

"Mmmm. Thanks Annie, that's real flattering." She heard a dull thump come from the wall she and mark shared "Hang on a second there was a weird noise from Mark's place."

"By all means, investigate."

"Right, Bye Annie." She hung up without waiting to see if Annie would return the farewell. "Investigate I shall." She said to no one ("MEOW!" I mean-She said to Nico).

 **|[-,-'- LINE|[-,-'- BREAK|[ -,-'-|[**

Mark said goodbye to Mindy at their front doors like they usually did and then went inside his own apartment not baring to be around her any more. Not that he didn't like her, quite the opposite in fact it's just he was so embarrassed. He had cried like a little boy into her shoulder and while most people would agree it was reasonable after all he'd been through, he couldn't help the shame that had burned through him like a wildfire once he had sobered up from his sob fest. Mindy hadn't acted weird about it, she had continued as if it hadn't happened, driving him home and not asking annoying questions like 'Do you want me to stay with you tonight?' because while he would absolutely _love_ her company right now he wouldn't be able to take it if she felt she had to offer it.

He looked around his empty apartment and it was times like this he wished his old dog Buzz was still alive or that he had a cat like Mindy. em'Mindy/em he thought. Mindy who had just said that she loved him. Mark couldn't dare to hope. Mindy who had also said the crew loved him. A fact e was well aware of and grateful for everyday but not quite what he needed to fill the gaping chasm of loneliness that seemed to be widening the longer he was around people rather than filling up like Dr Shields had told him it would the first time he had mentioned it to her.

He wondered if he should mention how much Vicodin he'd really been taking to her or at least to Chris, because he _knew_ the amount he was taking was not good especially for his already space strained body but he knew if he told them, they'd take the Vicodin away and Mark doesn't know how he'd cope without it. He'd barely been coping taking two what must have been every 4 hours unless he was sleeping, he would be an absolute wreck without them. It suddenly hit him that he was a drug addict. Mark Watney, American Hero, Coloniser of Mars and Space Pirate was a drug addict. He really hope the media didn't catch wind of that or he'd get eaten alive by the press and Chris would be so mad at him. Heck the whole crew would be mad. And he didn't think they would understand how he could feel so lonely in a city full of people, a luxury he had not been afforded for what must have been almost 4 years because em yes/em it was a luxury despite the fumes of traffic and constant sound of honking and the yell of some guy with road rage and every now and then the sound of a rocket taking off in the distance or an aeroplane going over head, all these sounds would annoy most people but Mark treasured those sounds as if they were his last food rations on a baron wasteland. He devoured those sounds, he lived for them, the sounds that reminded him he was safe and he was home, and he didn't have to put on a space suit every time he want outside, and he could get in a car and actually _open_ the windows without dying and every other thing wouldn't kill him if it broke. And he still got mini heart attacks if the oven stops working for a minute because the guy directly below him was using his oven at the same time or if one of his potted plants begins to wilt because no plants means no food and no food means death until he realises he has a fridge full of food and he needs to get a grip and if he still panics because he thinks the hot water tap is being powered by an RTG he doesn't ever admit it to himself (yet alone to other people).

Mark moved away from his front door where he had been standing for the last five minutes stewing in his embarrassment and sat down on his sofa, swigging Vicodin straight from the bottle as he did so, he almost choked at the amount that went down his throat. Oh well, he was sure the side effects wouldn't be that bad. He quickly turned the TV on and put on the News and when he saw his shell shocked face playing through the news cycle Mark's temper flared. An immense rage just overtook him and before he knew it he had hurled the remote at the TV, of course this did nothing to even stun the news reporter on the screen which just proved to anger Mark more "God Damn it!" He hissed at the TV, at the reporter announcing his business to the world "Why can't you all just leave me alone!" He was speaking loudly, his voice full of venom but not loudly enough to pierce the walls. He leapt up from his sofa, dislodging pillows and throwing them to the floor before climbing over the low hanging coffee table and straight up punching the television directly in the centre of the reporters face. The picture cut out as a fist size smash mark appeared on the screen and Mark howled at the shards of glass that had embedded itself into his hand. He clutched it tight to his body and unceremoniously slumped on the floor.

When Mindy came bursting in curios and worried she was completely taken aback to find Mark slumped up against the wall of his living room, his TV destroyed and blood dripping from his fist "Oh my God!" She exclaimed. She had no idea what to do in this situation, she was SatCom, not DocCom "Mark what happened?!"

"I happened! I'm a mess Mindy. I don't even know what I'm doing." his words seemed slightly slurred which worried her even more

"Mark how much blood have you lost?" She crouched down phone in her hand, thumb hovering over Chris' name but her other finger hovering over 991.

"No' much." His slurring seemed to be getting worse "A'though, I may ha'e ta'en some extra Vicod'n."

"How much extra?!" She cried indignantly thumb moving more toward the 911 button

"Not that much!" He tried to assure her but the slurring of his voice and the memory of taking way too much Vicodin on a good day were influencing her judgement.

"I'm calling Chris."

"NO!" His eyes widened and he sobered up a little his hand shot up to the wrist that was holding the phone "You can't call Chris!"

"Why not?!" She asked trying to shake him off

"Because Chris'll take away my Vicodin away!" Mark was starting to not make sense "An' he'll be so disappoin'ed wiv me an' he'll give me em the look/em with 'is big blue eyes an' then'e'll say I'm a drug addic' an' then Commander Lewis'll feel guilty cuz she blames 'erself an' Beth'll be sad! She's only little, she's the youngest of the crew an' I don't want to make 'er cry. If she finds out abou' this I know she'll cry." His words were getting harder to understand as his speech went on "And Martinez will make bad drug jokes to calm me down but on the inside he'll be thinking how far I've fallen an' he'll wonder where his friend went an' Vogel won't even want to see me, he can't have his kids have a drug addict as an influence and and-" He finished barely above a whisper "Mindy you can't call Chris."

"I have to call Chris." She pressed the call button tugging her hand out of Mark's grasp, he was too weak from blood loss and Vicodin overdose to try and grab her again.

"If you call Chris I'll never speak to you again!" Mark cried out

Her phone rang. **Once. Twice.**

"Mindy the Crew will hate me!" He tried the sympathy card

"They won't hate you." **Three times. Four.**

"I'm serious Mindy! I'll hate you forever!" He turned back to threatening their friendship.

She winced at that "This is for the best Mark trust me, you need help right now. Help I can't provide." **Five rings. Six.**

And on the seventh he picks up "Hello?" Chris answered having not checked the caller ID first

"I hate you Mindy Park." His voice was filled with so much venom it hurt her to hear but she soldiered on with the call.

"It's Mark, he's cut himself on some glass and he's overdosed on Vicodin and I don't know what to do." She realised she had tears running down her cheek when she found she had to take a deep breath to continue "He's slurring and he's being really mean. He's not acting himself. Chris help. I don't know what to do- I don't know-"

"It's okay, it's okay! We'll sort this out. Call 911."

Mindy started "But the media-"

"I don't care about the media as long as Mark's alive to face them." Chris said sternly "Just call 911."

With one more quick glance at Mark she hung up on Chris and called 991

"991, what's your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance for **The Regatta Apartments 22B off Kings Park Lane near the space centre**. I've got Ma-" She couldn't say it was Mark Watney, that would get too much attention "-um a male in his late 30s glass cuts on his right hand and an overdose in Vicodin."

"Overdose? Make sure to keep him awake, we have an ambulance 4 minutes out."

"Four minutes. Okay I can do that." She mumbled to herself although the 991 person heard her

"Drug addicts tend to have mood swings, this could make them violent and unpredictable so be careful."

Mindy winced at the term 'drug addict' although she guessed that's what Mark was now even if the drug he was addicted to was a legal substance.

"Ya know Mindy." Mark said quietly

"What Mark?"

"You're really pretty." She raised an eyebrow at that unsure what to say "I know I said was wasn't going to talk to you but how are we supposed to car pool to work if I don't talk to you. And- and you probably thing I'm going to die or something, but I'm fine! I'm the finest I've ever been, I'm dandy! Just peachy! 100% A-okay! Like I've never felt better. Although I am a little tired. Maybe I can nap a bit before the ab'lance gets here." His eyes start to drift shut

"No! No Mark wake up! Stay with me now, you can not go to sleep. Now is not night time!"

"Nighty-night." His eyes closed more as he relaxed into the wall and floor

"No! Mark!" She shook him gently which barely got a response from him so she did the only thing she could do. She slapped him in the face.

"Wha-?" His eyes sprung open and he looked around frantically "Mind-?" he was cut off by a frantic knocking at his door.

Mindy leapt up and flung open the door expecting the Ambulance and was shocked to see a very worried looking Beck carrying a NASA first aid kit and Beth looking even more worried if that was possible behind him "Come on." She decidedly left the door open and hoped the Ambulance would hurry.

Beck and Beth followed Mindy back to his living room where Mark was still slumped on the floor "Jesus." Chris winced as he took in the sight of his friend pale, loopy on drugs and cut up from his TV.

"Yeah." Mindy agreed.

Beth was on the verge of tears and through the druggy haze Mark noticed it, he turned to Mindy "See, I tol' ya Beth'd cry. I di'n't wan' to make 'er cry. I said that you shoul'n't call Chris cuz he'll be mad and Beth'll be sad and Lewis'll be guilty and you said it was for the best but if Beth's cryin' how can I' be for the best?"

At that Beth turned around and wiped her tears away, vowing to be strong for Mark. She wouldn't let herself cry although her eyes were still a bit red and puffy she managed to stop a new flow of tears.

Just then the Ambulance duo entered the apartment "Hello?"

"In here!" Mindy replied

The two of them came in one wheeling a gurney and the other wielding a stomache pump.

"Thank God." Said Chris as he saw the stomach pump.

The gurney wheeling guy did a double take at Mark and Chris and Beth definitely recognising them as the Ares III crew but the Stomach pump woman got to work immediately "Hi I'm Ami. Can you tell me your name?"

"Mark." He mumbled.

"Well Mark I need you to open your mouth so I can put this inside."

"Whazzat?" Mark asked

"It's a stomach pump, to take out all the excess Vicodin I've been informed you ingested. So could you open your mouth."

"I guess." He opened his mouth as wide as his drug weary jaw muscles could.

"Good. Thank you very much Mark."

The other Ambulance worker was still staring from Beth to Beck to Mark as if trying to make sure that it was indeed the ARES III crew in front of him right now.

The contents of Mark's stomach emptied itself into the stomach pump and she sighed in relief. "Okay now that that's dealt with, we can fix the hand on the way to the hospital."

Mindy jumped in "Hang on, could you take us to NASA Flight Medicine Centre."

Ami looked at her oddly and then at the other two, than she looked at who she'd been treating "Hnag on!" She exclaimed only now catching on having been so engrossed in her job before to realise "Mark? As in Mark _Watney_?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Mark joked with a monotone voice

"Well string me up and call me a piñata!" She exclaimed "Yeah we can definitely get you there if you guys can get us through the front gates."

"Chris, Beth you guys bring your key cards?"

"Well I was kind of preoccupied." Chris said

Mindy thought for a moment before running off to Mark's room and returning with a special NASA issues touch key card. "This it?"

Chris nodded "That's the one."

The guy who was called Dylan nodded "Well then lets go. That hand isn't going to heal itself."

They lifted Mark onto the gurney and took him down the elevator. Mindy placed her jacket over his face to conceal his identity from the noisy people who had come to gawk at the ambulance and Chris and Beck did the same did the same with their own faces. The ambulance guy, Dylan held his own high-vis jacket over Mindy which she appreciated as she had been on National News and wouldn't be surprised if someone recognised her.

News. Annie. If this became public knowledge Annie and the whole of NASA really wouldn't be happy that one of their star astronauts became a drug addict right under their noises.

Gods when did this become her life. She used to just be Mindy Park from SatCom, the girl who nobody knew and now she was on National TV, busting past security and saving astronauts. Mindy realised that since spotting Mark on Mars, she had become somewhat of a bad ass. Who would have thought?

And now here she was sitting next to three astronauts in an ambulance heading to a space hospital. Her life had reached a whole new level of adventure although she'd gladly trade it all for Mark to be okay. Not just okay from the cuts and the overdose but okay from whatever had caused him to take so much Vicodin and lash out at his pretty expensive TV. She found herself clutching onto Mark's hand, a fact that if anyone noticed, no one commented for which she was somewhat grateful,.


	11. 11) I Find It Hard To Tell You

**All I Know Is A Sad Song**

 **Mad World by Gary Jules** _ _ **(Don't listen to the 'Tears for Fears' version)**__

 _ ****** Amour Propre_

 _noun_

A sense of one's own worth; self-respect. _**EG**_ _"Teddy's amour propre must have been tested by his short stature"_

Chris had called ahead to one of his NASA doctor buddies so that when they got there they could go straight to a room and Chris and his old friend Dean Harold patched up the unconscious Mark's hand. The cuts weren't deep, but they were numerous and sometimes that could be just as bad but together the two doctor pulled out every shard of glass, cleaned the wounds and stitched them back up neatly.

While Chris worked he didn't look at Mark's face. He tried to forget it was Mark he was working on, tried to detach himself from the situation but Beth and Mindy sitting in the corner reminded him that this was his friend he was working on, a friend with an apparent drug addiction which he had failed to notice.

Dean didn't ask any questions when they wheeled out an unconscious worse-for-wear Mark Watney which they were all grateful for, and he hadn't asked any questions beyond what he needed to know in order to work on Mark's hand so when Mark finally woke up Dean sent an awkward look at the two ARES II and the one SatCom girl and decided it would be best to leave. Unfortunately for him it was quite a large room and it took an agonisingly awkward couple of seconds to get out the door.

"My head kills." Mark stated his memories not quite there yet

Chris resisted the urge to make a Martinez styled joke about how he wouldn't get any painkillers for it and instead just nodded, not knowing what to say instead.

"Where are we?" He looked around at the bland hospital walls and moved his hand to rub his head. He immediately saw the bandages on his hand and frowned trying to remember how in God's name he had hurt his hand and ended up in hospital. He remembered being on The Watney Report, the mean tweet, Mindy picking him up, breaking down, getting home and then it was sort of misty after that. He looked at Mindy, she looked upset. He looked at Beth, she looked like she was trying not to cry. And then he looked at Chris, he looked like he had guilted himself into thinking whatever had happened was his fault somehow. It was only when Doctor Shields stepped into the room that it all came flooding back to him. "Oh my God." He stated not sure whether he was more mortified or ashamed of what had happened. "I would like to state for the record that I did not intentionally over dose." Beck and Shields looked at each other as if they were having a deep profound doctor conversation with only their eyes. "I'm right here you guys. I can see you. Just because you're not speaking doesn't mean you're any less obvious."

"Look Mark, I'd love to believe that it was an accident but I have noticed your shall we say laxed dosages of Vicodin and I'm not the only one, and on top of that Annie called me about The Watney Report. And so as per NASA protocols I will have to lengthen your daily sessions with me and cut off your Vicodin."

"Cut off?" mark tried not to look like the idea of no Vicodin scared the crap out of him "Cold turkey? Isn't that meant to be bad for you?"

Siobhan raised an eyebrow as if to say 'please, I _am_ a doctor you know' "This isn't 2016. We're in 2030, cold turkey cutting prescription drugs isn't a health issue any more."

He nodded knowing he wouldn't be able to fight his case to stay on Vicodin without seeming like an addict (which he reminded himself he technically was) "The wonders of modern medicine." He held up his injured hand "So how long do I have to keep this bandage on?"

Chris seemed relieved that he'd gotten an easy question "Two weeks, and then you need to come get your stitches out." He pulled out a box that appeared to be full of two weeks work of what Mark could only describe as plastic bags "And you'll need to put this on your arm when you shower."

Irene Siobhan Shields wasn't called the best psychiatrist in Houston for no reason, she noticed how tense it was between the four of them right now, she saw through the sad attempts of small shallow talk, she realised if they didn't talk now of this would probably fester "Okay look, here's what we're going to do. Us girls are going to leave and you two are going to talk in here for 7 minutes exactly. Than Chris will leave Beth will go in and talk for 7 minutes and then Mindy will do the same. It's the best way to get everything out there without being awkward in front of other people so suck it up." She ushered Beth and Mindy out of the door "I better hear talking." Then it was just Chris and Mark.

"I should have seen this." Chris blurted out as soon as the door had shut.

"What? Chris no way are you blaming yourself for this?!"

"I'm your doctor I should have-"

"Stop okay. You haven't been my doctor since we've been on Earth. I'm not your responsibility any more. I won't die if you give me too many calories or if one of my vitamin supplements goes missing. We're not on the HERMES any more and I'm not in Mars so you can stop blaming yourself for my screw ups."

"Fine than! I'm not your doctor that's true but I'm your friend! One of your best friends and I didn't notice your drug addiction. That- that's on me. And beside I'm the one who practically force fed them down your throat on the HERMES."

"Well it's not like you had any other choice. We were in space, supplies were limited."

"But maybe if I hadn't told the Commander you were dead, she would have found you." Chris said quietly

"Or she'd be stuck on Mars with me and we both would have died, or the MAV would have tipped and all six of use would have been stuck on Mars. Chris you made the right call! How many times do I-"

"As many times as it takes to turn back time and for you not to have been stranded on Mars!" Chris almost yelled passionately

"No! Absolutely not! You don't get to make me feel shitty for being left behind on Mars!"

"Mark I'm not-"

"Well I'm the one who was stuck on Mars! How do you think I fucking feel hey? You and Lewis have been bitching on about how it was your fault you left me on Mars and I have tried to be understanding but you know what? I was _alone_ on an _entire_ planet for two years, it should be you guys trying to be understanding of me! Instead you've only succeeded in making me feel worse because every time I think of you guys all I can think of is Lewis blaming herself and you blaming yourself and Martinez not wanting to lead ARES V in case someone else gets stranded and Beth having to live knowing that if he Tiayang Shen failed she'd have to eat her friends and Vogel's youngest kid not even remembering him when he got back to his family! So I apologise if I'm not the same Mark that you fucking left behind of God damn Mars but I've experienced some shit that no other human being has ever experienced, that NASA didn't even think was _possible_ until now and all I have to show for it is a drug addiction and some guilt ridden friends!" Mark hadn't said this to anyone on the crew. He hadn't said this to Dr Shields either and he was kind of regretting saying it to Chris in this moment because that would probably make the poor guy feel even worse for himself which in turn would cause him to think his woes were nothing in comparison to Mark's. And Mark wasn't trying to dismiss his friend very real hurt, but he was hurting too and he didn't want to hear about their hurt when he was the one who caused it despite what Beck and Lewis seem to think. "Look I'm sorry I didn't mean that."

"Mark," Chris looked at him dead in the eye, his blue irises; usually bright with intelligence and bubbling with ideas, normally with a twinkle of mischief which he had adopted from Mark and Martinez; were now dull, the only shine in his eyes right now was from the fact that he hadn't blinked in far too long and his eyes were stinging "You did mean it. And it's okay. You don't have to be sorry, you're right. You're absolutely right, you need me more right now then I need you and yet I seem to be the one going to you to fix my dented ** **amour propre."**

"You're what?" Mark asked having studied Spanish in high school and even then, not well.

"It's French. It basically is like my self worth or my ego or something." Chris quickly explained

"Oh okay. But Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"I _am_ sorry. Just for all of this. For worrying you and Beth and Mindy and for making you feel so guilty. I'm not going to ignore your problems and say they're not as bad as mine because it's all subjective, Someone could get broken up with and feel bad or someone could be driven to the point of jumping off a building and feel bad but both peoples problems are valid no matter how trivial one may seem. Not that yours is trivial not at all, you too were put in a situation that no other astronaut had been put in."

"So we're cool? Everything's out in the open?" Chris confirmed glancing at his watch as he realised that some time had passed but he hadn't checked when they had started

"Well there is one thing that you haven't been 100% straight with me about."

"What is it?"

Mark looked sly and for a second Chris regretted asking "You and Johannsen boned in space didn't you?"

"MARK!" Chris cried indignantly

"What! We're bros. Brow tell each other this stuff! And come one who am I going to tell?"

"You'd probably announce it on Twitter the moment I wasn't looking but _no_ Beth and I did not _bone_ ," Chris crinkled his noise at the slightly crude and juvenile language "in space." he paused for a second "We made love."

Just then Siobhan rapped on the door with her knuckle and signalled for Chris to step out

"Wait Chris!" Mark cried after him still confined to the bed "You didn't really though did you?" Chris just grinned at him as he got up and sauntered out the door "What was it like? Is it better in zero Gs?" And the door closed behind him only leaving Johhansen in the room.


	12. In All This Bitterness You Stay So Sweet

**Cruel by Snakehips feat ZAYN**

 **In All This Bitterness, You Stay So Sweet**

He wanted to have a meaningful conversation with her the way he'd had with Chris but the first words out of his mouth when she sat in the chair by his side was "Did you and Chris _bone_ in space?"

Beth laughed and brought her legs onto the chair so that she was basically sitting on them "No Mark we didn't bone." Then she gave him the same shit eating grin Chris had just given him " _We made love."_

"Oh really you too? Is this some sort of inside joke? Is it better in zero Gs?"

"Oh, it's _soooo_ much better in zero Gs." The two shared a laugh, forgetting for a moment, the elephant in the room (or in this case the hospitalised Mark in the room) as they went back to their old banter. "But seriously Mark, what happened? I mean one minute I'm chilling with Chris and the next Mindy's calling us up panicked and scared half to death!"

"I'm sorry for worrying you, _all_ of you. I-I'll admit I've taken more Vicodin than I should have been but I really did overdose by accident this time, I wasn't paying attention when I poured them in my hand and by the time I though to count them I had already swallowed them. And then I was watching the news and the CNN incident was on there and it just made me angry, although it was probably the Vicodin," He sighed "I wasn't really thinking clearly. I haven't really been thinking clearly for a while I guess."

"And no one blames you Mark, you're only human, you've been through enough shit to get a free pass." She took his hand and smiled at him.

"You know even when I was high as a kite I still didn't want to see you crying."

"Yeah," She let out a short burst of laughter "Mindy told me. I held back my tears so that when you came to I wouldn't be crying." She laughed again "I guess we didn't really have anything to talk about did we? This was useless."

"Well I could never have any qualms with my Super Nerd Goddess."

"And I my Space Pirate, Captain Blonde Beard. Although apparently you have problems with Chris if the undistinguishable yelling was anything to go by."

"That's because he's Bossy Beck."

"Well you seem to have no problems with the Space Paparazzi." She gestured to the door where Mindy was most likely sitting biting her thumb with nerves.

Mark winced "I sort of do, I said some stuff to her while my brain-to-mouth filter was broken by drugs. Man, I should do a commercial," he put on a cheesy voice " _And this is why you shouldn't do drugs kids."_

"Ha!" She laughed "You'd be great at after school specials. I mean you did that great advert for Under Armour," she put on her own silly voice " _the official training partner of the ARES Program."_

"Oh God, Martinez took the piss out of me for months after that advert came out!"

"I know," She laughed thinking back to before they had even left for Mars "Lewis and Beck couldn't stand all his jokes and I'll admit, I wasn't too crazy for them either."

"I don't think anyone was, even Vogel was visibly displeased by Rick's jokes."

A knock on the door and Dr Shields sticking her head in interrupted them mid-laugh "Okay Beth, times up."

"Well I'll see you later Mark." Beth got up reluctantly, uncurling herself from the small chair. As she walked across the room she turn around and whispered "Tell her how you feel Mark." And then she was out the door before Mark could even say _'Pft whaaaa?'_


	13. 13)Between The Devil & the Deep Blue Sea

**Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea**

 **Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea by XYLØ**

Mindy walked into the room her eyes darting from Mark's to the floor awkwardly. She sat on the chair and fiddled with her hands on her lap but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry."

Mindy looked up, unsure what to say. She would let Mark know how she felt, now that she'd finally figured it out, now that she had admitted it to herself (or to Dr Shields while they were outside waiting) She was going to tell him the truth "Mark seeing you hurt like that today reminded me that anything could happen and I should live as if every day is my last and so I'm going to tell you something that I've wanted to say for a while now but couldn't." She spoke so fast her sentence was jumbled up into almost one huge word **(that would have been impossible to read had I written it like that)** "Mark I-" _'love you'_.

"No wait I need to say something. I don't hate you Mindy, I don't hate you at all and I'm eternally grateful that you saved me. Again. You have always been there for me, from the moment we met, from _before_ we met actually and I can not thank you enough. I love you Mindy," Mindy's heart leapt into her throat, _'Was Mark admitting he_ _ **loved**_ _her?'_ "You're one of my best friends, you are my rock and I honestly don't think I could have handled coming back to Earth without you, even with the rest of the crew all still in the US."

"Best friends?" She smiled at him trying to keep her real feelings off her face _'It's okay Mindy,'_ she told herself _'What were you expecting. Mark's Mark, the great Martian hero and you're just boring old Mindy from SatCom. You're alright.'_ "I-" Her voice caught in her throat "I feel the same way." Her hand shook and she quickly sat on them to stop it from being noticed "I- You- you're one of my best friends as well I mean. I like living next to you, and driving to work with you everyday, and I like how you always seem to lighten the mood with your jokes and I- I lo-" She can't say it. She can't say she loves him. Not after she just got friend-zoned so hard. She had heard Beth's comment about Mark telling her how he felt and he didn't love her, not in the way she loved him. "I'm sorry I have to go." She stood up ignoring Mark's protests and questions and rushed out of the door at a speed that could practically be called running. She didn't look at Beth or Chris or Siobhan as she left and ignored their questions as well, she just kept walking out of the building until she came to the hospital. She sighed as she realised she hadn't driven her car there and debated calling an über.

In the end she decided to walk, it wasn't _that_ far and she needed the time to clear her head; to deal with how she would face seeing Mark tomorrow at work, if he was even out of the hospital and back on the job by then.

She realised she was crying and sat down on a bench, curled her legs up and sobbed.

"Um Miss? Are you okay?" A couple approached her awkwardly

"Yes," She sniffed "I'm fine, no need to worry. I just had a bad day. Thank you though." She sent them a watery smile and they left figuring they had done all they could for the crying girl on the bench.

Mindy wasn't quite sure exactly when she had come to the realisation she was in love with Mark Watney, maybe it was after the CNN interview when they sat together in her car and he cried into her shoulder; but she had a feeling that she had been in love with him long before that, but she knew now that when she fell in love didn't matter because Mark didn't love her back.

She groaned as she realised that Chris, Beth and Siobhan would probably be up her ass trying to figure out what had happened and why she had run away. She knew Beth knew about her crush and she assumed Dr Shields did as well but she really hoped she wouldn't need to have to try to explain anything to Chris. He was a lovely guy and smart too but Mark, Beth, Martinez, Rich, Annie and Venkat were her friends from the popular clique of NASA. Chris, Lewis and Vogel were sort of just add ons to her; even if she was actually the add on being the last one (besides Rich Purnell) to join the elite squad of astronauts and professional bad-asses. She hoped the whole crew wouldn't give her hell for running away from Mark but knowing them, they'd probably get her side of the story first.

She sucked in a big gulp of air and brought her useless sobbing to a halt. _She was Mindy freaking Park_ , SatCom extraordinaire and certified Space Paparazzi; she studied freaking Martian volcanoes and dealt with grown men who acted like children and thought it was okay to bully their colleagues; she dealt with the NASA big wigs without embarrassing herself (too badly). She was used to her crushes not liking her back. She could handle this. She could still be Mark's friend - after all he needed her, or so he had said. She was his rock. She would just have to be _content_ with being his rock and nothing more.


	14. 14) The Tide, It Takes You Away

**And The Tide It Take Me Away From You (And It Brings Me Back Again)**

 **'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' by XYLØ**

Beth stormed into the hospital room with Dr Shields right behind her and Chris floundering in the hallway.

"What did you do?" Beth demanded

"I- I don't know! We were just talking and she said she had to go and then ran away before I could even say anything!"

"What _exactly_ did you say to her?" Siobhan inquired

"Uuum...I said I was sorry for some stuff I said while under the influence of Vicodin, then I said she was one of my best friends and I needed her-"

"I'm sorry _what_ did you say?!" Chris yelled from the hallway "You said she was one of your best friend?!"

"Don't feel jealous Beck." Mark joked, confused at the horror stuck faces Beth, Chris and Siobhan were sending his way "Guys seriously, what?"

Beth sighed "Mark, you egg."

"What!" He asked "What did I do that was so bad?" He looked to Siobhan "Doc? Any help here?"

"Give me a minute, I'm currently reminding myself I am a professional psychiatrist and not some sort of meddling friend. That being said I must agree with your friends, you are in deed an egg."

"Let's just pretend that I _don't_ know what you're all talking about. How about you pretend to explain it to me."

Beth sighed more dramatically "She loves you Mark."

Watney stared at her for a full 10 seconds with a look of disbelief and the whole room was silent "What?"

Chris raised an eyebrow "You seriously didn't know? Martinez would be disappointed."

"Wait seriously? Mindy Park is in love with me?"

Siobhan leaned in "Why is that so hard to believe?"

He shrugged "I don't know. It just...is."

"Could you two leave for a second please."

"Sure thing Doc." Beck and Beth evacuated the room and left the doctor and her patient in the hospital room alone.

"Do you love her?"

"I-"

"Come on Mark don't clamp up on me now!" She repeated sternly "Do. You Love. Her?"

"I do." Mark whispered

"So why didn't you tell her that?"

"I.. I don't know I just-?"

"You just what? You just think you're not good enough for Mindy Park or for anyone because of how much money and time and other countries boosters were used to save you. I'm sure you feel all those resources were wasted but they weren't. You don't get to decide if you're good enough for Mindy, if she likes you then she likes you. You need to decide if she's good enough for you!"

"Of course she is!"

"So tell her this! Tell her you love her!"

"I can't I-" Mark was cut off as he sucked in a deep breath almost involuntarily. He closed his eyes "I can't tell her."

"Why not?"

"Because what if she doesn't feel the same way."

"Standing next to you is the best psychiatrist in Houston. I'm telling you she does feel the same way." She sat down the the chair that had been previously been occupied by the party in question "I understand that it's scary and it's unknown but what would the world be like if no one told the person they loved that they loved them? You have to take risks sometimes to live life to the fullest."

"As your psychiatrist, as your friend and as a human being I'm telling you: Go to Mindy tell her how you really feel."

Mark looked at her somewhat doubtful but as the two stared at each other he was filled with confidence. "I will. I will tell her how I really feel." He swung his leg off the bed and then paused "Am I clear to go?"

"Yes you are."

"Then I'm going to go to Mindy's and knock on her door and tell her how I feel!" He practically leapt out of the bed and ran out the door past the less confused Beth and Chris in the hallway. He yelled at them as he passed "I'm going to tell her how I feel!"

Chris immediately starting grinning and gave him two thumbs up "Good luck buddy!"

"Go get her Mark, you deserve it!" Beth called after him.


	15. 15) Only Fools Fall For You

**Only Fools Fall For You**

 **FOOLS by Troye Sivan**

As it turns out Mark didn't end up knocking at her door to confess his undying love for her, or stand outside her window with a boom box. He stood outside her door for half an hour trying to work up the courage and then chickened out and decided to tell her in the morning during their bi-daily drive. And then the next think he knew they were driving to work and he still hadn't said anything to her. It was his day to drive but because of his busted up and carefully casted hand Mindy had volunteered. They were outside work about to head inside before mark could even try to bring it up "Um Mindy. I... I um just wanted to say that you- I mean to say that I-" _'Say it, say it, say you love her'_ "I am truly grateful for your help yesterday. I don't know what I would have done without you." _'I'm an idiot.'_ He sent her a smile that he hoped she wouldn't notice didn't quite reach his eyes.

She smiled back also looking a bit lacklustre "What are friends for?"

Mark sent her another weak smile at the word 'friend'. So this was how she felt yesterday.

 **strong }-,-'-|_]=LINE= }-,-'-|_]=BREAK= }-,-'-|_]=TIME= }-,-'-|_]=SKIP= /strong**

Mark had gone straight to his desk that day opting to avoid Dr Shields for as long as humanly possible when you were supposed to see someone everyday. He knew she'd probably guess what his absence meant but he would rather focus on his job right now because this was his place of work and he was a professional.

He continued writing about his potatoes until he got to a point where he couldn't remember what happened next to the space spuds. He racked his brain for the equations he'd been working out on Mars, he'd been a few weeks out from another potato flip and then... _and then the airlock exploded and punted him several kilometres (8 km = 5 miles) away from the HAB._

As the panic started to rise in his throat in the form of bile Mark reached for his pocket where he kept his Vicodin from muscle memory alone and when he had re-discovered that it wasn't there he began to panic even more. Dr Shields had taken them away from him. Dr Shields who was just down the hall and would help him with this panic attack he was currently experiencing. He stood up shakily from his chair and struggled to his door. There were people out there and he, Mark Watney, could not be seen in this state, he needed to pull himself together.

Slowly he tried the breathing exercises he'd read about on Tumblr when he was supposed to be working and breathed in for 8, out for 7, in for 6, out for 5, etc until he hit 1. He felt his breathing was normal enough to go outside even if his heart hurt in his chest from beating to fast and his vision was impaired by the blurs around the edges that made him feel like he was living the Instagram filter toaster and his hands were shaking. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hide them and walked out of his office as calmly as he possibly could. No one in the hallway was paying him any attention but it felt like everyone was judging him, what if they knew about his addiction? About his cowardice? Paranoia: a symptom of withdrawal. Damn, that wasn't good.

What was less than a minute but felt like a lifetime later Mark was outside Siobhan's office door. He removed his trembling hands from his pockets and knocked, unsure if she already had someone in there with her because he hadn't thought about other astronauts with issues until now. She opened it and seemed quite shocked to see Mark and this time "Oh Mark, you're late I thought you weren't coming."

"I wasn't going to but I think I'm having another panic attack."

She immediately stepped aside and allowed him into the office. Siobhan observed his eyes, pupils small as she'd ever seen them, his hands shaking. She helped him through his attack until he was calm(ish) again. "What happened?"

"My potatoes. They all died and I could have died too. And I know I said I was never going to eat potatoes ever again but I loved my potatoes, they kept me alive for so long. And then I was a fucking idiot and shunted them into space. I mean obviously they didn't actually go floating away but I killed all the bacteria that were making them grow. Like an idiot. And on top of that I chickened out with Mindy!"

"What?!"

"I know! I was going to tell her last night like I told you I would and I chickened out."

"Don't you guys drive to work together?"

"Yeah I couldn't do it then either. I just ended up thanking her again for helping me."

"Mark what do I have to do to convince you that she liked you as much as you like her?"

"I don't know. But I don't want to talk about this."

"So what do you want to talk about Mark?"

"Did Annie talk to yet? I haven't had a chance to touch bases with her."

"No, I haven't either, although I heard that she's been in contact with Kate Wilson and that intern who messed up. Speaking of which, I saw your face when that tweet popped up, how did that make you feel?"

He winced "I've already talked this out with Mindy, I don't think I can do it again."

"Well when you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here."

"And I really appreciate it Doc."


	16. 16) You Can Run If You Feel You Have To

**You Can Run If You Feel You Have To**

 **Gravity by EDEN**

 _At this point the HAB airlock breached and all the Earth bacteria died because of the cold vacuum of space. All research was halted and I was unable to grow any more potatoes._

He had gotten back to his desk and finally finished his paper on growing crops on Mars without having another panic attack. It felt weird not having a specific goal or task in mind any more. Now he would just do what NASA told him to do, whether that be press conferences, tours or answering scientists questions.

He emailed his finished paper to the guys in proof-reading and to Venkat, Mitch (who had _not_ been fired) and Teddy. The man sat back in his chair wondering what he should do next. He didn't have to decide as there was a knock on his door "Come in!"

Mindy entered his office looking shaken, her glasses were in her hair but were slipping to one side, her shirt was unevenly untucked and she kept wiping her hands on her trousers as if they were incredibly sweaty.

"Mindy? Are you ok?"

"I don't- I mean- I'm sorry, I should go." She turned around and started walking down the hallway and Mark was after her immediately.

"Wait!" He caught up with her pretty quickly and grabbed her wrist "Mindy, what happened?"

 **FLASH BACK }-'-,-] _WHAT HAPPENED TO MINDY_**

 _"Hey Mindy." An African American man called out to her as she walked by on her way to her desk having just grabbed some coffee from the break room._

" _Yeah Joel?"_

" _Could you grab the print outs from copying?"_

" _Sure, but why didn't you just print them here?" She asked pointing in the direction of the SatCom printer._

" _It's broken and they can't get someone up here to fix it for a week."_

" _Uuug, that's annoying. I'll get your printouts today Joel but you better not ask me everyday."_

 _Just before she left someone else called out "While you're downstairs could you get some staples?"_

 _She called back "Sure!". As she walked down the hallway she had a weird feeling someone was following her but when she turned around no one was there. She continued walking taking the stairs rather than waiting for an elevator and this time definitely hearing foot steps behind her, she turned around only to find Matt from Media/PR, they exchanged nods and then he turned off and she continued down one more flight of stairs. Why was she so paranoid suddenly? She shook off the weird feeling that had been floating over her like a rain cloud since she had left SatCom and continued her journey._

 _She knocked on the door of the copying area and was greeted by Ross Chambers "Hey Ross."_

" _Mindy, I assume they haven't fixed the printer in SatCom yet?"_

" _Nope, apparently it won't get fixed for another week so get used to us SatCom guys knocking on your door."_

" _Well it's a welcome change to the PR guys I usually get down here."_

" _I only know like two people from PR, Annie and Matt, they're both cool."_

" _Mmm, you should meet Dan, he'll ruin PR people for you forever, he's the worst."_

 _Mindy laughed at that and shook her head at his mild antics._

" _But you didn't come to hear about Dan you came for these." He picked up two A3 sheets of paper and handed them to her._

 _She looked at them and saw they had Joel's name in the bottom corner "Yeah, how'd you know?"_

" _I'm omniscient."_

 _She raised an eyebrow._

" _Joel called ahead and said you were coming down to collect his prints."_

" _Well Ross it was nice catching up with you but I still need to head to the supply closet."_

" _Bye Mindy."_

" _Bye!" And she was out the door heading to the office supply closet just down the hall. When she got inside she rested the prints on a box and looked around for the right sized staples. She finally spotted them on the top shelf and sighed, cursing her shortness. She reached for them tentatively getting right up on her tiptoes and was_ /emthisem _close to touching them when the door opened behind her, in surprise the arm that was holding on to a lower shelf keeping her balanced, shook the shelf and a box of highlighters fell from it's place on the shelf. She cursed under her breath as she bent down to pick it up, as she did so she looked over to see who had entered behind her and froze on the floor when she saw none other then Pearce Kennedy locking the door behind him. "Pearce."_

" _Mindy."_

" _What are you doing?"_

" _What I should have done a long time ago. Putting you in your place." Using his newly gained height advantage with Mindy still crouching on the ground he smacked her right across her face, disorienting her. Then he reached down grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up to her feet slamming her against a wall that wasn't lined with office supplies._

" _AH! What the heck are you doing?! Get off me!" She yelled, lashing out wildly as he pinned her to a wall. He held he wrists down and forced his tongue into her mouth. Mindy was torn between biting his tongue and using his position against him and kicking him in the balls. She went with the latter, slamming her knee into his groin as hard as she could._

 _He stumbled backwards, letting her go in favour of cradling his goonies and she made a break for the door. She wasted precious time trying to open it before it was unlocked and was instead slammed into it by Pearce. Her stomach was pressed up against the door with Pearce behind her holding her in place with his whole body. "You bitch." He whispered in her ear as he placed on hand firmly in front of her mouth "I'll show you what happens to woman who usurp me!" He forced his other hand down the front of her skinny jeans and into her underwear "I'll make you so wet for me and then I'm going to fuck you into an inch of coming and then I'm just going to stop and I'll leave you here begging for more, and maybe I'll send some of my friends back here to give it to you."_

 _Her scream was muffled by his hand and because of her position she could only kick from her knees downwards which wasn't really affecting him much so far but didn't deter her from trying. She could feel his arousal poking into her back and tears started to form in her eyes_ 'This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening' _She couldn't help it when she started trembling in fear "That's right girlie, be afraid." in his moment of distraction, his grip on Mindy's mouth loosened and she took the opportunity to bite down hard on his hand. He yelped in surprise and she spun around pushed him away from her, unlocked the door and ran. She forgot about the prints and the staples and just ran. She didn't realise where too until she was outside Mark's office knocking on his door._


	17. 17) No I Don't Love You And I Never Did

**No I Don't Love You And I Never Did**

 **XO by EDEN**

Mindy burst into tears "I was in the supply closet and-and -and Pearce he-he-" She pushed her head into Mark's chest and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.

"What happened Mindy? What did he do to you?"

"He assaulted me... sexually."

"WHAT!" Mark exclaimed "I'll kill him! I'm going to punch him in the face!"

"No Mark I still have to work with him!"

"Oh absolutely not! This is the 21st century, you don't get sexually assaulted and then be forced to work with the guy again! We're going to Human Resources. We can go talk to Barbara, she's great, Martinez and I are constantly getting sent to her because of our inappropriate jokes."

"Oh no Mark I don't want to make a big fuss..."

"Mindy, you told me that there are girls in your office who get bullied by this guy, you have a chance to get rid of him! What happened to the girl who said she'd punch him in the face and let me watch huh?"

"That girl got slapped in the face."

"He _slapped_ you?!"

"Yeah once."

"Come on Mindy, you gotta report him. If you don't he'll think he's won. He'll only get worse. Give a dog a bone and he'll want the whole skeleton."

"You made that saying up. But it's pretty good. And you're right, okay I'll go to Human Resources. But you have to come with me."

"Of course."

 **}-'-.-] LINE }-'-.-] BREAK }-'-.-] SHORT }-'-.-] TIME }-'-.-] SKIP**

Barbara wrote down the report as Mindy explained what happened. Barabra told her "Once I get the footage of the both of you entering the supply closet then Mr Kennedy will be gone, he'll be out by the end of the working day. This sort of behaviour is inexcusable, I apologise on behalf of NASA."

"Thank you." Mindy smiled awkwardly unsure how one was supposed to reply.

Mark squeezed her hand in a completely 100% platonic way although Barbara didn't seem to think so. "Oh and if two NASA employees are going to date you're going to need to fill in some HR relationship forms."

"Oh we're not-" Started Mark.

"Me and Mark? No!" Mindy exclaimed.

"-We're just friends-" He continued disjointedly.

"100% friends." She added

"-No romantical feelings here-"

"Nope, you have just entered the friendship zone."

"-I'm just one good friend helping out another good friend."

"Extremely good friends-"

Barbara finally put an end to them stumbling over each others sentences "Please stop. I get it, you're just friends."

"Good so you get it. Just friends." Mindy commented unnecessarily.

"Well hopefully security will remove him from SatCom pretty soon but until then I suggest you go back to work, try to act normal."

"Okay." Mindy nodded "Well thank you again Barbara."

"I'm just doing my job. And Mark, it's nice to see you here for another reason other than terrible jokes."

"Hey! My jokes aren't terrible, they're just in poor taste sometimes." Mark defended his jokes as they left "Bye Barbara."

"I have to head back up to SatCom." Mindy said mostly to herself as they started walking in the direction of the SatCom Centre.

"You only have to see him for like 2 hours tops and then he'll be gone forever."

"I know, but I'm still gonna have to see him." She was wringing her hands nervously.

"I'll come with you! He's not going to even try anything if American Hero Mark Watney is around."

Mindy laughed "You've really adopted that title haven't you. But yeah, sure, I'd really appreciate if you came with. Thank you."

"Well it's the least I can do."

"Does this make us even?"

"Ha no, I still have two more debts to repay if we're keeping count."

"Which you apparently are."

They arrived at their destination and Mark held open the door for Mindy which in return she simply gave a raised eyebrow at his chivalry.

Rachel rushed them at the door "Mindy! What happened?"

"What?" Mindy asked confused how Rachel could already know about what had occurred in the supply closet.

"Pearce came storming up here, calling you a bitch and saying that you would be out of here by tomorrow!"

Mark snorted at the last part "Actually it's Pearce who's gonna be out of here by the end of the day."

Just then Pearce appeared next to the trio "Mindy, you called your little boyfriend to protect you?"

"Mark is my friend." She said coldly.

"And I came so she didn't beat the living crap out of you." Mark added, equally as icy.

Pearce scowled "What's this about me leaving?"

"Oh, not leaving, more being removed from the premises."

"What did you do you bitch!" He scowled at her.

"Don't call her a bitch." Mark stepped forward threateningly.

"Please, don't think just because your on TV I'm going to stand down to you and your invalid ass." He gestured to his cast hand.

"I may have a cast but I'm far from an invalid, I can still pack quite the punch." Mark's good hand was balled up in a tight fist.

"Oh what you gonna punch me? You think you're a big man don't you?"

"Well I'm certainly a _bigger man_ then someone who bullies his colleagues."

"Is that what Mindy called it?" He turned to her and his voice took on a creepy undertone "She loved it."

Mark punched him so hard in the face with his casted hand that the plaster shattered.

There was silence for a second as Pearce registered the pain and took in his bloody noise and then someone started clapping, it was slow and uncertain and only one person but after 10 awkward seconds more people joined in until the whole SatCom centre was applauding, giving standing ovations as if they had just seen the best performance in the world.

"You just punched me!"

"You were just being a creepy guy! Oh I'm sorry, I thought we were stating the obvious."

Just then security sauntered in dressed in all black suits, ripped as a body builder, covert ear pieces in and stun guns and tazers strapped to their sides. "Pearce Kennedy, you're coming with us."

"What? Why am I being taken away? This guy is mentally unstable, he just punched me in the face! I bet that's how he got his previous injury as well! Picking fight with perfectly innocent guys and getting his handed to him on a plate!"

The first security guy just grabbed his shoulders "I honestly don't care, I'm just doing my job and I was told to get rid of you."

"And no offence dude but it looks like you got your ass handed to you on a plate." The other guard added.

"Well," Said Mark "Siobhan and Chris are gonna be mad I broke my cast."

"Especially as they gave you a cast because they knew you'd mess up bandages."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I stole your punch, I was just supposed to watch."

She laughed "It's okay, that was much more entertaining."


	18. 18) I'll Be Right By Your Side Till 3005

**I'll Be Right By Your Side Till 3005 (So Hold Up)**

 **3005 by Childish Gambino**

"Hey Mindy."

"Morning Mark!"

"You're never going to believe this, since I finished my potato paper and all, NASA thinks I should take a break and go surprise my parents in Chicago!"

"You're going back to Chicago! Awesome, tell your parents I said 'hi'!" She said enthusiastically even though she was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be spending his new found free time with her in Houston.

"Will do, but as it turns out, I need to pack and NASA said there's nothing really for me to do except talk to Siobhan for my daily session so she's gonna come here while I pack, swap Skype details and stuff for the trip just in case. Maybe we should swap Skye's as well."

"Sure. If I can even remember it, I haven't used Skype since like 2025."

Mark laughed at that, "It's the MySpace of face timing but nothing ever replaced it so we're all stuck with the patchy at best, absolutely inaudible at worst Skype call."

They swapped Skype details "Call me any time. And I mean that." Mindy said, suddenly serious in the midst of their jest.

"I will if I need to don't worry Mindy, and the same goes to you too."

"So what are you gonna do back in Home town Chicago?"

"Well I promised my parents some deep dish, I might go visit my old primary and high schools and maybe even take a quick trip to see my old University professors, I mean without those guys I would have- I never would have-"

"I know."

"So yeah, chill with my parents inspire some little kids and say hi to my old teachers. That's the plan."

"We'll have fun Mark, I guess I'll be driving to work alone today, how will I fill the time?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to manage without me." He snorted, playfully elbowing her in the ribs.


	19. 19) I Was Distant I Was Scared

**Arcadia by The Kite String Tangle**

"Mark! Sweetie! How was your flight?" Marissa Watney asked, fussing over her still-too-thin only son.

"It was great ma, I didn't get recognised or anything." He allowed himself to be fussed over, exchanging a knowing look with his dad, Charles 'Charlie' Watney. "Hey dad."

"Mark, I'm glad NASA gave you a break." His dad gave him a firm hug after his mother had let him go.

"Yeah it was pretty nice of them." Mark hugged him back.

Charlie bristled "Well they do owe you at least a break after what they put you through."

"Dad we've been over this, they couldn't have possibly predicted that storm, it really wasn't their fault."

"Well we can do all that later boys." Marissa stepped in ending the continuous argument that was fought in the Watney household before it got too bad "For now, why don't we have dinner. We got linguini's pizza, your favourite flavour."

"Oh my God! Meat lovers supreme?!" Mark asked welcoming the change of conversation "I haven't had good Chicagoan pizza in ages!"

"Well Houston is famous for many things, their pizza isn't one of them!" Marissa ushered both her boys into the kitchen and Charlie went to set out some plates, cups and drinks whilst Marissa and Mark sat down at the oak table in their kitchen.

"So ma, how have things been here? Anything new happen?"

"Oh you remember Lisa from highschool?"

"Yeah, course she was my girlfriend for a while."

"Well she just had her first baby, a little girl, I think her name was Rachel or something."

"No it was Raquel." Charlie corrected his long-time wife as he placed plates in front of them.

"Oh you're right, it was Raquel."

"No way!" Mark picked up a slice of pizza "That's great, you know I was thinking of visiting a few of my old teachers and professors while I'm here, I might give her a call see her new baby. Or is that weird? That is weird isn't it? An ex boyfriend just dropping in randomly." He took a large bite of the slice.

"Well you were high school sweethearts honey, I'm sure any weirdness is gone." His mother assured him

"As for just popping out of nowhere, I'm sure she'd be pleased to see you. All the neighbours were quite worried about you as I'm sure you can imagine."

Mark's hand faltered for a moment as his hand holding the pizza slice went back to his mouth for a second helping "Right... yeah..." No matter how much time went by Mark didn't think he'd ever get over all the people who had worried about him and all the money that was spent on saving him "I'll uh- I might just do that then." _'God mark, stop being awkward, these are your_ parents _if you can't be yourself around them then there's no help for you.'_

Marissa again saved the day by changing the subject "So what's all the gossip about this Mindy girl? I'll be mad if you got yourself a girlfriend and didn't tell your parents."

Mark blushed slightly "No ma, she's not... Mindy's not my girlfriend. We're just friends, she works in SatCom at NASA."

"Well she seems like a good _friend_ , maybe one day we'll get to meet her." Charlie hinted.

"Next time you guys are in Houston I'll definitely introduce-" His sentence was broken up by a yawn "-you to her."

"Oh you poor dear! Of course you got a weirdly timed flight to avoid as many people as possible and you probably stayed up all night packing why don't you get some rest."

"I'm really not that tired, I'll help you clean up." He insisted but his cover was blown by yet another yawn.

"Mark sweetie, just go to bed, really it's fine, we'll talk more in the morning."

"Ok Ma. Goodnight guys."

"Goodnight sweetie." Marissa smiled at him

"Goodnight Mark."

For an embarrassing second Mark had the urge to ask his mother to tuck him in like she used to when he was 8 or for his father to read him some great sci-fi epic like he would when he was 6 but then he got a grip on himself, his grown adult self, and walked up the stairs and into the room he had grown up in. It still had a bunch of his old science trophies and certificates from school; a partially torn, very worn Ironman poster; and the same embarrassing matching space duvet covers and pillow cases adoring his bed. **(A/N: I USED AN OXFORD SEMI-COLAN BIATCHES)** He smiled at the nostalgia of the whole situation, the fact that in this room apart from a thin layer of dust on the desk, nothing had changed. When he had first gotten back from Mars this room had been the only thing to keep him grounded.

He fell asleep breathing in the familiar scent of his childhood bedroom and smiling at the ever-present street light directly outside his window that had served as a nightlight in his younger years.


	20. 20) Freaks and Geeks

**Freaks and Geeks by Childish Gambino/ Donald Glover/ mcDJ**

 **A/N: I'd say he probably went to University of Chicago. Simply because why not. Although after a quick google search it seems there's some Neo-Nazis on the campus running around putting up pics of Hitler and Swastikas. Oh crap I though that was like last month but now the most recent article was 2 hours ago and the least recent on the front page of google is 13 hours old. Crap.**

 **Also there could be a course the called Trump 101 so that people can figure out the endless puzzle that is Trump. **

**I apologise to those who support Trump but aren't racists for my very clear disdain for Trump (if it wasn't clear before it is now).**

 **To those who are racists, fuck off. *Middle finger emoji***

 **Sorry to get political.**

 ** _READ THE NOTES AT THE END._** _They're not important but I just want you to read them._

Mark checked and then double checked the lecture hall he was standing outside to make sure that it was indeed Professor Paul Zen McKinley's classroom he was about to walk into. **(Lol I got that name from a random name generator)**

Before he went in he reached into his pocket for some vicidin hoping to calm his frayed nerves and was disappointed, not for the first time, that the only thing in his pocket was his wallet, keys and phone. He waved it off and carefully pushed open the door, thankful that it didn't creak and so no one looked over when he entered, assuming he was just a late comer and not 'American hero' Mark Watney. He stood quietly watching Professor McKinley teach just as passionately and animatedly as he had 15 years prior talking about which bacteria and ground minerals were best for growing crops and plants and where they were most common until halfway through his spiel about some mineral or other he froze and looked at Mark. "Mark freaking Watney!"

He smiled awkwardly as the whole class turned to stare at him "Professor McKinley!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well I finished my potato pap- um – my thesis on growing potatoes on Mars and NASA thought I deserved some chill time with my parents. Thought I'd come visit some of my favourite professors."

"So I'm not the only who you've come to visit aye, who else?"

"Professor Booth and Professor Hoffman." Lorna Booth was an engineering professor and Baz Hoffman taught Physics in relation to space, most people referred to his class as Space 101.

"You're lucky we all got tenure or we would all be gone by now."

"I can't believe you guys have been teaching in Chicago for more than 15 years at the same university."

"Well what about you Mark, you're a big time space botanist now, you showed that botany wasn't just for guys who wanted to grow weed in their closets."

Mark laughed at that "Speaking of big-time botany, I brought an early edition of my thesis if you want it."

"Of course I want it, I've been dying to find out how you managed it in space. As have my students, we've all been speculating as a quick warm up each lesson, the debates get heated."

"Well I'd be happy to put some arguments to sleep." Mark smiled looking at the more than half the hands that had already raised themselves. "Where to start? How about you."

 **LINE BREAK**

McKinley and Mark walked down the corridor ignoring the stars students and staff alike were sending them "I can't believe I'm going to the teachers lounge."

"This must be like a dream come true, you finally get to see what we get up to when we're not around students, I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed, we don't do anything interesting." He said as he opened the door.

As the two botanists stepped into the large lounge their eyes fell upon the most bizarre sight either of them had ever seen. The English professors and the Maths professors facing off it what was most definitely a drink-off. They were doing shots of vodka in rapid succession and it seemed the aim of the game was to be the last one standing. The teachers from other departments seemed to be cheering them on having picked a team and were chanting "Shots shot shots shots shots!" **(1:18 seconds into this video and you'll see what I mean: watch?v=XNtTEibFvlQ )**

"I agree McKinley, this isn't interesting at all."

Professor Flinn, a (usually) boringly dull English Language teacher spat out her shot when she saw "Mark Watney!" standing in the doorway.

Both Booth and Hoffman looked around from their seats, they had been playing on the maths team because their subjects require maths. A chorus of "Mark!"s and "Watney!"s erupted from the slightly tipsy as they were caught in various states of shock, surprise and embarrassment.

"Oh don't stop on my account! In fact I might get a shot myself!" Mark grinned at all the old teachers from his old college days and all the new teachers who he had never seen before.

McKinley exclaimed "What the hell is going on in here?"

Lorna Booth quickly explained "A lot of the English and Maths department doesn't have to teach any classes but we still have to come in today so we were just gonna hang out and talk and then we got into an argument about which was better."

"So you decided to settle it with a drinking contest?" He asked.

"Lighten up Paul! Have a shot!" She offered him her shot.

He signed, conceded to his colleagues madness and accepted the shot. As he knocked it back they all started cheering again "A bunch of teenagers, the lot of you."

Mark grinned "This is great. I picked the best moment to come visit."

Lorna Booth and Baz Hoffman made their ways over to the two botanists "You really did." Hoffman agreed.

"Professor Hoffman! Professor Booth! How have you guys been?"

"Really Mark, you're going to hit us with that small talk nonsense?" Lorna remarked"Let's not waste time."

They all agreed and spent the afternoon and evening chatting about science; their lives; funny stories about NASA and students they'd taught; and embarrassing Mark by bringing stuff up from 15 years ago until Mark got a text from Annie. He quickly checked it and spat out his drink (they'd moved onto softer stuff by now) "Oh my God!" He exclaimed drawing the attention away from Baz' crazy story.

"What is it?"

"My fucking logs got leaked! Someone _hacked_ NASA!" A lot of people went quiet when they overheard this turning to look at the quartet "This is gonna be a media shitstorm!"

"You were planning to release them anyway weren't you?" McKinley asked trying to help.

"Yes but this hack reveals 2 things A) NASA tech is crap which is not want you want to hear from the guys sending people into space and B) because this was leaked it won't be a master piece of a story, it will be a scandal, _I'll_ become a scandal. I was never up for the whole 'American Hero' thing but I prefer it a whole lot more than the idiot who blew himself up on Mars because he forgot he breathed oxygen."

"You did what?!" Lorna exclaimed.

"Exactly! And that's just one of the many many things, not even the worst thing, certainly not the most scandal worthy thing in those logs." He sighed "I need to go, Annie's gonna wanna deal with this ASAP. It's been really good seeing you again."

"You too Mark, come and visit anytime." Hoffman handed him his bag.

"I'll enjoy this uuug Potato Paper." Mckinley smiled.

"Good bye Mark, we'll see you around." Booth bid him a farewell.

 **A/N: The news is all about narrative. Which is why I actually believe Trump (for once) when he says that the news is bias against him, because they're all liberal. They can still give you facts and information whilst still swaying your opinion to the side they want you to see. So if the Martian news wanted to spin it like Mark was maybe mentally unstable, or not quite the hero that everyone's been making him out to be, then he might lose support. People are already mad about all the money that got used to save him so who knows what kind of repercussions a loss of support could have.**


	21. 20,5) Tweets and Geeks

**A/N: Just some Tweets with peoples thoughts and opinions laid out reasonably on the internet where they consider other peoples feelings and don't result to name calling at all. Because that's how the internet works. For some reason all my at symbols disappeared but you know how Twitter names work.**

Izzy FrizzyIzzy

I get that NASA wanted to fix their mistake but why should their screwups cost us so much money? #LETHIMDIE #LEAVEHIMTHERE

Why_In_The_Heck SarahBaggs

FrizzyIzzy You do freaking realise he's already back on Earth and there's no point in complaining right?

* * *

MeAndMyEasel MichaelWilliams

I don't understand why everyone's so butthurt about Mark again. How are we supposed to #lethimdie or #leavehimthere if he's already back on Earth, alive and healthy?

* * *

SeverusSnape PinkLlama22

I feel like Mark must have some sort of mental illness right now. How are we just letting him walk around unchecked? He could attack someone! #Leavehimthere

* * *

Scott Niswander BritishScott

Who remembers this? I dare someone to bring this up at the press conference tomorrow #LetHimDie

 _*Picture from when that Tweet told Mark to kill himself a couple chapters ago*_

* * *

 **My real Twitter account BTW**

 **MarvelThalia992**

People need to STFU. I for one am glad we got him back. I can't imagine being alone on a planet! #BringHimHome #HatersBackOff

* * *

Karen B Bumblebee

If anyone believes that we should have left Mark Watney on Mars, unfollow me now. #BringHimHome #KeepHimHere

* * *

SuzyMuruli SuMu8765

Mark Watney is too preciosu! He doesn't desreve this absue! #BringHimHome #MarkWatney #ARES3 #ARESIII

SuzyMuruli SuMu8765

Oh no I made so many #typos! *precious *deserve *abuse. This is so embarrassing.

BabyBoo23 BB23

SuMu8765 Can you spell you idiot. Also Mark Watney is a stupid Faggot who can go to hell for all I care.

Tabby Crook Tabstar

BB23 Dude calm down. She said she made typos. Can you read? And firstly Mark's not gay and secondly that's not a reason to KILL someone and thirdly please don't use that f word. It's not PC.

BabyBoo23 BB23

Tabstar Oh I'm sorry did I hurt your pansy ass? You wankers and your political correctness kill me. I have the right to free speech so STFU you faggot.

Tabby Crook Tabstar

BB23 You say you have free speech and then tell me to STFU? You idiot! And PC isn't a bad thing. The word 'faggot' is insensitive to peoples struggles.

BabyBoo23 BB23

Tabstar dykes haven't had any opposition since like 2020. It's hardly uncommon now-a-days. Homophobia doesn't exist anymore so why can't I say faggots if I want to.

Suzy Muruli SuMu8765

BB23 Are you an idiot? Of couse homophobia still exists! Just cuz u don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. If anyone should shut the fuck up it's you!

TWITTER HAS DELETED THIS THREAD


	22. Show ThemThe Place WhereIDraw MyThoughts

**Did I Show Them The Place I Draw My Thoughts ~ Pack of Wolves by Astronomyy (No that's not a typo)**

"Mark sweetie if you don't calm down, you'll wear a tread in the floor." Mrs Watney told her son several minutes after he had rushed into the house and gotten straight on the phone to Annie Montrose.

Mark ignored his mother and let Annie fill him in on the situation "Fox news was the first to run the story and after that, the floodgates opened. Every news outlet, blogger, Youtuber, Tom, Dick and Mary is reporting on your logs. Some people are doing live reactions, others have started uploading audible versions to Sound Cloud. It's a mess."

"But what are they saying Annie? What's their reactions?"

"Look, I'll be straight with you, all this new info has opened up a new wave of #LetHimDie supporters but the #BringHimHome self-proclaimed 'Potato Squad' are still at large protecting you on the internet."

"Yes but Annie _what are they saying?_ " Mark repeated his question, stressing the importance of how much he needed to know.

"They're not happy Mark, it makes no sense really but they've put NASA back under the microscope for not having any communications that were suitable for the situation, there are even people calling to have your mental health records released."

"WHAT!?"

"Don't worry we won't be doing that, even if we wanted to it would be against the law for us to breach Doctor, patient confidentiality like that. They don't think your stable enough after hearing everything you went through, the paparazzi have been looking for you all over but of course they can't find you, you picked a good week to get out of Houston. Buuuut-"

"But what?"

"I'm going to need you to be back here ASAP."

"What!? But I only just got back home yesterday and you want me to come back already?"

His parents glanced up at him having only been able to hear his side of the conversation.

"I know Mark I'm sorry, but we need a press conference before this gets out of hand and we really need you to be at it, front and centre."

Mark sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose "But I just got back." He said sadly. Neither acknowledged when his voice cracked almost pitifully.

Marissa whispered "It's okay honey, if you need to go we'll understand. We'll be right here afterwards and you can come back and we can play monopoly and you can catch up with that Rachel girl."

Charlie agreed with the point but couldn't help pointing out that her name was "Raquel." As he was finally able to claim to have a better memory then his wife.

"Okay, thanks mum, dad. Annie I'll be back tomorrow, book me a flight will you."

"Mark when you went to Chicago you were big, but you were irrelevant. Now your the only thing in the news, a commercial plane isn't going to cut it, I'm getting you a private jet."

"A _what now_?!"

Before she had to deal with Mark telling her not to bother with a private jet an how bad they were for the environment and how he didn't need a whole plane to himself.

 **#}-,-'-|_] LINE BREAK [_|-'-,-{#**

Mark sighed as he entered NASA ignoring the stares a lot of the other members of the space organisation were giving him. How many of them had read the uncut version of his logs? I mean he _was_ planning to release them but not everything in there was for everyone and now everyone had it anyway. He might as well release the beginning of his version seeing as it's already out there.

He converted his word document into a PDF file uploaded it to the internet and copied the link. Hesitating only once, he pasted the link onto a tweet and wrote:

 _ **MarkWatney at MarkWatneyAstro**_

 _ **Well seeing as it's out there already I might as well show you guys this:** _ http/ /www . MarkWatney

It was only after he'd released it that he thought _'Oh crap Annie's going to kill me.'_

 **#}-,-'-|_] LINE BREAK [_|-'-,-{#**

 _'Calm down'_ Mark thought as he stared out into the sea of hungry reporters and flashing cameras. He'd held press conferences before, obviously, but this was different. Before they talked about space and Mars and how all the crew got to be such good astronauts and now they were going to talk about how negligent NASA is and how crazy he is. He looked to his left and saw Teddy, Venkat (Vincent) and Mitch; and to his left was Annie, Commander Lewis and Beck. _'Calm down'_ he repeated to himself . But he didn't calm down until he saw Mindy and Rachel walk into the room and try and blend in at the back. Of course between Rachel's bright red hair and Mindy's lack of camera and her recent internet fame, it was quite hard to blend in, but Mark was glad she came. Mindy that is, he didn't really care about Rachel. They hadn't spoken much since he'd gotten back pretty late last night so it was comforting to see her familiar face. Of course Lewis and Beck were there which was also a comfort but they were different from Mindy. _'Calm down'_ .Mark told himself she was only different because they met after Mars, he refused to admit that there might be any other reason.

Annie stood up and started the event "Welcome everyone and thank you all for coming. Now as I'm sure you're all aware, NASA was recently hacked and Mark Watney's Mars logs were leaked. The next day Mark himself released his copy of what was going to be a book of his logs on Twitter. Many of you may have questions like how did we get hacked into, who did it and many questions about the logs themselves and we will try to answer as many of them as we can. Please keep in mind that the crew members _are_ actual people with feelings as much as Commander Lewis tries to hide it-" That got a small laugh from the crowd "So try to be at least a little considerate. Thank you." She sat down, smoothing the back of her skirt as she did so, "Any questions?"

Every. Single. Freaking. Hand. Went up.

Annie nodded to herself, having expected this "You, blondie." She pointed to a slender looking blonde girl with rounded glasses.

"Kara Danvers, Cat Co World Wide Media. Mr Sanders I know we asked these questions when we first found out Mark Watney was alive, but having looked through the press junkets it's come to my attention that you never answered it, you simply skirted around it."

"Please get to the point Ms Danvers." Annie insisted.

"How did you not realise Mark was alive for two months?" Kara finished her question.

Annie's head twitched an inch in Venkat's direction almost by magic. As if her face was a quiji board moving of it's own accord trying to send everyone a message. "Well in light of what we believed to be the death of a great astronaut, we thought it would be insensitive to his family and friends if we flashed his... dead body on the news."

"But it didn't have to be on the news." Kara retorted "You could have just checked."

"All pictures that NASA takes of space have to go to the public within 24 hours by law. If we took a picture of a dead astronaut try and tell me that Catco and every other news outlet wouldn't have that picture pasted over everything they owned?"

Kara sat down scribbling this all down in her note book. "Thank you Miss Montrose."

Immediately hands were back in the air. Annie this time chose a caramel coloured African-American man with a very closely shaved head. "You," At a second glance she recognised him "James Olsen."

"Daily Planet."

"Of course." Annie nodded remembering all the ground breaking news he, Clark Kent and Lois Lane had reported on. The three of them seemed like Daily Planets' dream team.

"Me and a team of people have combed through Mark's logs with a fine toothed comb and I think it would be fair to say that that many days of isolation can have negative affects on a person's psyche. Mr Watney, how has Mars affected you?"

Mark looked at him and then at Annie and then back at James. "Uum.. well I guess the thing that has affected me the most was going from the 17th person on Mars, the lowest in rank of the third team to 'American hero' Mark Watney. It's... like a culture shock. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like I'm even in the same America anymore. That, and storms make me antsy."

"So you're having a hard time adjusting to your new-found fame?"

"Are you kidding? Before Mars I had a sizeable Twitter following and that was about all the fame I had, now there's a CNN show about me that follows my escapades, that's _crazy_ to me. I mean, you guys are only here because of _my_ logs, that never would have happened before."

Annie pointed to another person, drawn to ginger hair.

"Mary-Jane Watson, Daily Bugle. Mr Watney, the press has never gotten ahold of any stories about you suing NASA for your situation. Why is this?"

"Well that's simple, I've never even _planned_ to sue NASA for 'my situation'. Not only because it says in my contact that if I were to die or get injured in space NASA is not responsible and I _can't_ sue them, because if I wanted to I'm sure I would get enough public support that it would be suicide for them to not let me sue them, but also because it really wasn't their fault."

"So whose fault is it Mr Watney?"

"No ones! No one could have predicted that storm, no one could have predicted that I'd get hit by the satellite dish, no one could have predicted that my signals would all give out signs that my suit was punctured and I was dead but really I was alive, those were impossible circumstances and it was by pure coincidence and bad luck that they all happened to me. No one is to blame."

Annie scanned the crowd looking for a reporter who she liked until she came across two girls from Central City Picture News "Iris West and Linda Park from CC Picture News. They sent both of you one of you must have a good question."

Linda immediately jumped for her question "Mr Watney, you talk about getting stranded on Mars as just a thing that happens. Has it ever struck you that it could be very well be an act of God? Has this incident affected your faith in any way?"

"Oh definitely! I mean when I was trying to make water, I had to burn rocket fuel but of course NASA doesn't want _anything_ on fire within the HAB so I had to find something that was flammable. The only thing I could find was Martinez' wooden cross which was definitely _not_ allowed on board and yet it was, and it saved my life. No I'm still not sure whether there's a God or not but I guess you could say that that's proof there must be _someone_ looking out for us."

Questions went on like this being shot at Mark mostly but some at Lewis and Beck, some at Teddy, Mitch and Venkat. Questions being asked about Mark's feeling on the renewed #LEAVEHIMTHERE/#LETHIMDIE movement, why NASA didn't warn ARES III of the storm sooner and sending Mark into space in a literal tent. Annie mediated the whole thing picking who asked questions and cutting them off when they took too long or if they asked a question she didn't like. It was all running smoothly until the end when she picked Ben Urich an ex-Daily Bugle reporter who had gone solo and started his own media company called Frontlines, he had only been invited to the press junket out of courtesy as he was considered a veteran in the business.

"Mr Watney, I have a reliable source who is claiming you were or still are addicted to vicodin after getting back to Earth."

Mark's eyes widened slightly because _'How did anyone know?'_ he opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know _what_ , but he had to say something and then Annie was shutting him down with a crisp "No Comment." And he closes his mouth nods in agreement and repeated the meaningless phrase "No comment." but 'No comment' might as well have been a yes. He might as well just hand the media his medical records and show them where Dr Shields has written in red writing that he got himself hooked on vicodin. Heck the secret would have been better kept if he himself had written it on a wall in red writing. His hand itched to check his pocket for some vicodin but he knew it wasn't there and he knew even if it was he couldn't have any _now_ of all times, given the line of questioning.

"Any other questions?" Annie prompts everyone to move on. It was almost the end of the press conference and she did _not_ want to end on such a bad note.

Vicki Vale jumped in rapidly "I do. Vicki Vale Gotham Gazette."

"Don't you write the gossip section?" Annie asked somewhat rudely and doubtful of how legitimate her question could be.

"Yeah I do, and I'll stick to what I'm good at don't worry. I just spotted Mindy Park over there by the door," she pointed at the girl who suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights as 50 heads turned her way "I just wanted to know if since the last time it was asked there's any truth to the rumour that Mark and Mindy were dating. They have quite a large internet following you know, people call them MarkPark."

Mark snorted at that last part "MarkPark? I thought ship names were meant to be more merged! Like Wark or- or Parkey or something." He laughed again looking over at Annie who was giving him the dirtiest look, he immediately stopped laughing and cleared his throat awkwardly "But no, we're still not dating."

Annie checked the gigantic clock at the back of the room "Well guys, that's our time."


	23. 22) 'Cos I'm A Fucking Mess Sometimes

**Drugs by EDEN**

"Oooh!" Mark exclaimed looking at his twitter feed.

"What?" Mindy asked as she drove them both to work the next day.

"I just realised where Mark Park came from."

"Really? Please tell me what idiot invented that God-awful ship name." Mindy looked at him as the lights in front of them turned red.

He laughed "Oh wow this is awkward. It was me."

"What!"

"Yeah, when I was on The mark Watney Report and I said that unfortunately we weren't dating we weren't dating I just blurted out MarkPark."

She raised an eyebrow "Unfortunately?" She teased.

"I meant unfortunately for the Mark Park shippers. 'Cause you know... you're my friend and stuff."

She focused back on the road and didn't reply which left them in a couple seconds of silence before the lights turned green and the car started moving again. "So when are you heading back to see your parents. Your last visit wasn't exactly complete."

He was glad she had said something because he was not sure how he was going to restart the conversation "Yeah, I'm heading back next week. Speaking of that press conference, thank you for being there. It was nice to see a friendly face."

"What do you mean? Chris and Melissa were there and you're friends with Kapoor, Annie and Henderson."

"Yeah but they're different. They're..." Mark regretted not having any vicodin on him for what felt like the a millionth time "they were there."

Even though he was vague, Mindy understood what he meant "You met me after Mars, to you I'm not really linked to it. Where as everyone else at that table left you stranded on Mars and almost got you killed."

"Exactly."

"Hey Mindy!" Mark appeared behind her chair in the SatCom room.

"What are you doing here?" Mindy asked, jumping slightly at his sudden arrival.

"I was bored. NASA didn't really give me any real work to do and when I went to the higher ups about it they told me to take a break as if I've been doing hard work for all the 2 hours I've been at work. So what are you doing?"

"Well I'm currently messaging some volcanists about Olympus Mons and putting together my presentation on why I think it's irrupting soon."

"Oh that's pretty cool."

"Yeah, and Kapoor said that when this is done he has a surprise for me."

"That's even cooler! What do you think it is?"

"Probably a raise or a promotion."

"Wait." he frowned at her "You didn't _already_ get a raise or promotion?"

"Well when you were on Mars I got paid so much overtime and whilst you were on your way back to Earth anyone who could take a break did. Including me and all my bosses who are in charge of this sort of thing." She shrugged "And you know me and Kapoor became friends, I didn't want to seem like I was only getting stuff because I was friends with the big boss, the head honcho if you will."

"I guess that makes sense. You want to earn your job, not just get it handed to you because you know some people."

"Exactly."

"Well I won't disturb you, this seems quite important." He started walking away.

"Wait! What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. I might go talk to Dr Shields, she's always up for a chat."

"Okay, well I'll see you later." She turned back around to the screen when she saw a new message had popped up from one of her volcano experts.

"Bye." Mark waved but having realised she had already dismissed him, he left awkwardly ignoring the eyes of the other SatCom people. The only one who didn't seem to stare at him was Rachel because she had become somewhat used to his presence around Mindy.

He stood outside Siobhan's office for a second contemplating on whether to knock or not before deciding against it and returning to his office once again. He picked up his Iphone 27S **(A/N: That's right I went one number for every year starting from the 7 in 2016 all the way up to 26 in 2035 which is when the book takes place BTW.)** and started checking his apps for messages and updates. His finger automatically went to Twitter.

 ** _MarkWatney at MarkWatneyAstro_**

 ** _I'm so bored. Someone give me something I can do by myself now that I've finished my work but I can't leave till the end of the workday._**

Immediately he got tweets back telling him to print out embarrassing pictures of the crew and stick them in places that got crowded like around coffee machines and in the NASA Canteen; to walk around signing stuff; to watch this video and that video; to sneak out; to do a twitter Q and A; and to read some books that you could get on your phone.

"Thank you internet." He laughed to himself.

 _ **Mark Watney at MarkWatneyAstro**_

 _ **Well I have gotten an overwhelming response. Thx guys! Many choices to choose from but I've decided to be a Space Pirate and sneak out. Shhh. No one tell NASA.**_

He managed to get out of the building without turning too many heads, not that it mattered ultimately, he had just said on Twitter that he was sneaking out of work so Annie could see it at any moment and report him. It wasn't exactly the crime of the century but after being abandoned on Mars NASA really had nothing on him.

He wondered happily down the street letting the Texas sun hit his skin and warm him after spending so long in an air conditioned office building. "This is much better." Without warning he was shaken from his blissful daydream by a car alarm. Unfortunately it jarred him out of a daydream and back into a nightmare. Suddenly he was paralysed.

 _He was lying half buried in the red Martian sand. His over-oxygen and suit breach alarms were going crazy inside his helmet. He pushed himself up weakly and found the MAV gone. The crew gone. And an antenna stuck halfway into his abdomen._

He was leaning on a shop window trying to catch his breath, trying to get the images out of his head, when the shop keeper poked her head out "Are you okay sir?" she asked cautiously.

He tried to reply but all he could do was look at her helplessly.

"Are you in pain? I'm a pharmacist, maybe I can help you."

At the word 'pharmacist' something connected in his brain "Vicodin?" he gasped breathlessly

she winced "I can't give you vicodin without a prescription. I can give you something lighter. We have Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol."

"I had some but..." He closed his eyes again trying to regain control of his breathing and of the situation "I just really need some vicodin." His hand moved to the area where he had been embedded with the communications dish.

"Hang on! Are you Mark Watney?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Mark Watney!"

"No way! My son is a big fan of yours! He loves you so much!"

"That's great." He was trying to be patient, after all this woman was just doing her job in not giving him vicodin but he couldn't concentrate enough on reality to even breath so he couldn't control the scathing look he gave her at the derailment of the conversation.

"Okay, yeah, I'll get you some vicodin." She helped him into the pharmacy and sat him in a chair then ducked behind the counter and unlocked the store room grabbing the smallest bottle of vicodin she had. "Here." She handed him the bottle "Oh God I could lose my licence. You can't tell anyone about this!"

"I won't." He said as he swallowed two dry and let the mild euphoria overtake his stressed brain. It wasn't hard stuff like cocaine or estacy, it was just over the counter prescription meds to take the edge off. She had no reason to report him to anyone and he had no reason to mention this lapse in judgement to Dr Shields. "Thank you."

"What happened?" She asked curiously.

"I guess you deserve an explanation. I sometimes get panic attacks, I have different triggers, first time was a storm today it was the car alarms, sometimes it's nothing at all and it just happens."

She nodded "My husband was in the army. He had flashbacks and panic attack all the time when he got back."

"How'd he get over it?" Mark asked hoping for some useful advice.

She scoffed "He went right back to the army. I don't suppose you can go back to Mars can you though."

He let out a single breath of laughter "Yeah, not so much."

"Well I guess you'll have to find another way. But I'm sure you will, you're a strong man Mr Watney."

As he clutched the new bottle of vicodin in his pocket, there were only 30, he couldn't help but think how wrong she was about that.


	24. 23) I'm Gon' Work Work Work Erryday

**I'm gon' Work Work Work Erryday**

 **Bills by LunchMoney Lewis**

He left the pharmacy and he walked back to the office after he'd gotten a few texts from Annie to "Get back to work." He thanked and apologised to the Pharmacist who he'd later found out was called Sia Bailey.

"Really Mark?" Annie said "Leaving work is one thing, you weren't doing anything, no one even cared, but broadcasting it all over Twitter is a whole other thing!"

"Well I got bored and there was nothing to do."

"So where'd you go? Am I going to see you with a prostitute plastered across CNN News?"

He laughed at that, whilst also secretly panicking and wondering if there was a security camera around where he had had his panic attack "No no, nothing like that, I just took a stroll. You know how it is."

"No I don't know how it is. I haven't had the luxury to just take a stroll since I became the Director of PR."

"Well I haven't had the luxury of just taking a stroll since I got stuck on Mars." Mark countered.

Annie breathed in deeply as if she was honestly about to scream at him and then she snapped "This is your one warning. Don't do it again." Before storming off back to yell at a bunch of first years and interns.

Mark sighed with relief and spun around to head towards the elevator "That was risky." He breathed out.

"You're telling me." Lewis said from directly in front of him.

"Ah!" He was startled backwards "Commander! What?"

"Really Mark, do you just dissolve into a child the moment I'm not watching you?"

"Don't do that, you scared the fucking daylights out of me! God!" He clutched his heart, still feeling it race in his chest.

"That poor woman." She stared after Annie Montrose "Oh well at least you're not my problem any more."

"Oh hardie-ha, everyone's a comedian. Anyways Commander what are you doing here?"

"It's just Melissa now and I'm here because I was with Jo-Beth earlier on today and she was telling me that she thinks her phone was hacked so she's getting a new one but she had to go to work later today and she was hoping to send everyone a message about tomorrow."

"Has everyone's phones been hacked?"

"I don't know but I wouldn't risk it. Either get a new one or get someone to check it out. Beth said she'd check it herself later but she has some really important info that she doesn't want getting out to the press yet."

"What is it?"

"She wants the whole gang to go to dinner tomorrow at 8:30 at Brennan's of Houston."

"Where's that?" Mark asked, racking his brain for a 'Brennan's of Houston'.

"It's about 45 minutes North East. Near central Houston in Midtown."

"Oh ok. How comes?"

"I'm not sure, she said that would ruin the surprise. But she seemed awfully happy."

"Do you think Beck finally popped the question?"

She scoffed "Here's hoping."

"So by the gang, you mean the Ares II crew and their spouses, Mindy, Annie, Kapoor and... who am I forgetting?"

"Rich will be there too."

"Of course! Rich!"

"Anyway I'd love to stay and chat but I need to try and track down the whole gang in this massive building."

"Does Annie know already?" He said gesturing in the general direction that the blonde had stormed off earlier.

"No, but she's usually quite easy to find and if not I can always tweet her, she seems to be all over Twitter." She playfully poked Mark softly in the side, laughed and then walked off to go find everyone else "Get back to work Watney!"

"What work Commander?" But he too laughed and stepped into the elevator "Dinner in Midtown, nice."


	25. 24) Tied Together With A Smile

**You're Tied Together With A Smile But You're Coming Undone**

 **You're Tied Together With A Smile by Taylor Swift**

Mark tried and failed to tie his tie "How could I have forgotten how to do this?" He mumbled to himself undoing it for what must have been the 6th time and trying again, placing it neatly under his collar once again.

"Hey Mark," a knock at his bedroom door interrupted him "You decent?"

"Yeah Mindy, come in. I could actually use your help with-" He turned around and stopped "Um."

"What?" She asked self consciously "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! No I mean you... you just look really beautiful." Mark stuttered out.

And she did, her usual plain sometimes even days old pony tail was now in cascading bouncy curls perfectly framing her face which was complete with eye liner, clear mascara and pastel pink glossy lipstick. Her dress was quite plain, except for the lace on her arms and back, but it framed her body perfectly, showing off the feminine side to herself which she usually kept hidden under lose shirts, cardigans and cut-off mom jeans. She smiled awkwardly "Thank you." She looked down at herself as if she hadn't thought she had looked beautiful before he said it "I felt kind of ridiculous like this. I don't usually dress up."

"Well I mean you _always_ look beautiful whether you're dressing up or not but this look suits you too." Mark could feel the heat rising to his cheeks _'Why did he even say anything?'._

"You uuh- you said you needed help with something?" She enquired, brushing a stray hair behind her ear.

"Uum yeah my- my tie. I've forgotten how to do them."

She stepped closer to him and was soon stood directly in front of him. The blush crawled even higher up his face when she started skilfully tying his tie. He knew that she must have been able to see how red his neck was even if she wasn't looking at his face and yet all he could think about was just taking the last tiny step between them, closing the gap and pressing his lips to hers. His heart was beating so hard in his chest, he was terrified she could hear it. And through all this he failed to notice that Mindy had a very similar blush on her face that was not created by make up and that Mindy had the same desire to step forward and kiss Mark and that Mindy had the same thing stopping her from doing just that. She was scared, just as he was scared and they were both too scared to simply look up and see what had been right in front of them this whole time, see what all their friends could see and had (jokingly) informed them of.

And then his tie was done and she took a step done with a smile, finally looking up at him "Done."

"Thank you."

"Look like you owe me another one Mark."

He laughed "The favours keep stacking up."

"Well you can make it up to me by not being late. Let's go."

"You driving or am I?"

"You drive, I'll do what I do best and look at satellite images of where you're going."

"What?"

"I'm going to check Google Maps." She said getting out her phone and clicking on the app icon for Google Maps. "Need to make sure there's no traffic."

"Smart move."

 **~ ~ ~ ~ ~ LINE BREAK~ ~ ~ ~ ~**

"Mark! Mindy!" Beth smiled and hugged them both as they approached the table filled with their fellow NASA employees and friends.

"Beth hey!" Mindy replied.

"It's good to see you Super Nerd." Mark hugged her back.

She smiled at the familiar nickname and then checked her watch "You guys were almost late. 30 seconds is cutting it close what took you guys so long?" Mark started blushing again. "What were you guys making out or something?!" She grinned at them.

"What! Nooo! No. Nothing like that. Mark just forgot how ties work." Mindy exclaimed waving her hands like a cartoon character.

Beth laughed again and said somewhat sceptically "Okay if you say so, take a seat."

"No Beth really, that's what happened."

"Mmm Hmmm." She nodded sarcastically.

When they arrived at the table everyone launched into a bombardment of banter, greetings and inside jokes with Mark pretending he didn't know Martinez and his wife Marissa joining in after a while; Annie making sure none of the staff took pictures of them and Melissa trying to reign everyone in and her husband, Robert, just laughing at her failed attempts.

They shared different starters across the table and then went on to the main course. "So," Rich looked over to Mindy and Mark "when did you to start dating?"

Mark almost spat out his lemonade and Mindy started choking on her carbonara "What? We're not dating!"

"You're not?" Rich seemed generally surprised "Are you sure? The evidence would suggest that you are."

The rest of the table who had been stifling their giggles until them burst in a raucous laughter led by Martinez "What evidence?"

"Lots of people fall in love with their heroes. Technically speaking Mindy did save you from Mars."

"By that logic I could also be in love with you, or the entire crew and Bruce to be honest."

"Well there's also the fact they live basically together, the drive to and from work together everyday, they seem to go everywhere together, Mindy's friend Rachel is always talking about how Mark is always hanging around Sat Com and how cool it is. All that time spent in such close proximity usually means that someone is in a relationship."

"Yes well- I guess we're the 1% we're just friends." Mindy replied to all that. "And when is Rachel always talking about Mark?"

"By the coffee machine on her break." Purnell answered.

They finished eating their mains with only normal conversations and when everyone had finished and all the dishes had been taken away Beth and Chris stood up, arms wrapped around each other and tapped a fork against their cups. The table hushed quickly. "Thank you again, everyone, for coming. Me and Beck have a big announcement to make-"

"-two big announcements-"

"-right two announcements and we're so glad that you could all be here to share in this moment with us." They both reached into their pockets and pulled out rings, Beth's was a thin sliver band with intricate markings on it and a diamond on the top and Chris' was a slightly thicker plain silver band that they were informed had an inscription on the inside. "We're engaged!" A waved of congratulations hit them and their friends had never seen them happier. "And not just that," she added, hushing everyone again, "I'm pregnant!"

There was a split second of silence before the cheers and congratulations started up once again.

"So Beck you finally asked her to marry you!" Mark said at the same time Martinez yelled "MILLION MILE HIGH CLUB! Put it here." And held out his fist to be fist bumped.

Chris ignored Martinez (although Beth didn't leave him hanging and proudly bro-fisted him) and instead turned to Mark "Funnily enough we both proposed at the same moment."

Mark chuckled "I guess, like many of us, she was beginning to think you just weren't going to do it."

"What?! You guys didn't think I would propose?"

"You Dr Bossy Beck, have to be the most inertia-bound astronaut on the planet."

"ME!? Oh that's rich coming from you!"

Martinez jumped in "To be honest you're both as bad as each other." And suddenly he had both of their fake-wrath directed at him. He held up his hands in mock-surrender "Don't shoot the messenger."

Mark rolled his eyes "But really you two, we're all really happy for you, and super proud."

"Thanks Mark. I just hope telling my parents will go this smoothly."

"Why wouldn't it? Chris is a Doctor and an Astronaut, what parent couldn't like him?"

"A parent who doesn't want their daughter knocked up before she'd married. Especially when it may have occurred in space."

"Hang on!" Vogel asked "How far along are you?"

"2 months."

"Oh! Don't scare me like that I honestly thought you did it in space."

"I got pregnant on Earth, who's to say we didn't do it in space?" Beth winked.

"And when I finally thought I had gotten a clear answer you go and eclipse it with mystery."

Annie was already on her phone marking down stuff "Okay Beth, I'll wait until you tell your folks before even thinking about releasing this to the press but please tell them before you start showing otherwise they'll be finding out through Vicki Vale's tabloid in the Gotham Gazette."

"I will, I'll tell you when I tell them."

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that. Could I also get a statement? And don't worry I'll add that 'family wishes for you to respect their privacy in this time of family blah blah bullshit'."

"Does that actually ever work?" Chris asked.

"Mostly no. the press are vultures, the more vulnerable you are, the more they circle."

The conversation eased back to normal small-ish talk when the desert arrived and they ate with a new-found sense of pride for two of their closest friends (finally) getting hitched.

Mark looked around at the crew, his crew. He was the oldest in the Ares III crew and yet he was the only one still single. Maybe that was why they seemed so desperate to partner him up with Mindy, they didn't want him to be alone forever. Knowing his luck he'd probably end up being the weird, crazy, single uncle of Beth and Chris' child. What if Mars had screwed up any chance to find love? How did celebrities find love with people who weren't other celebrities? What if he was so screwed up in the head that no one would ever want to be in a relationship for anything other than the fame he brought? He breathed deeply in order to keep his breaths even, then slowly leaned over to Purnell "Hey Rich, if anyone asks I'm just going to the toilet."

"Okay." The genius replied, barely looking up from his chocolate ice cream.

He quickly escaped to the bathroom, and loosened his tie, regretting it immediately when he realised he still wasn't sure how to do it back up. "Calm down Mark. You need to chill out." He mumbled to himself "God! What the fuck is wrong with me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his brand new vicodin. Only 28 in the bottle and he wasn't sure when he'd be able to get another one without a prescription. He had decided to only take one when he really needed it. But he really needed it _now_. He flipped open the lid and tried to pour out one, although he ended up with three in his hand and ruefully put back two leaving the lone pill in his palm.

He stared at it for a moment. _'You're such a mess Mark, I mean a drug addict? The one thing you swore you would never be and look at me!'_ Just as he was about to put it in his mouth the door opened, almost in slow motion, knocked into Mark's back and cause the open bottle of tablets to go tumbling onto the floor. 27 Vicodin pills went cascading all over the putrid public toilet floor and Mark's eyes widened as his safety net essentially got flushed down the toilet "No no no no NO! Oh my God!" He would have been on the floor shovelling the pills back into the bottle had it not been for the voice behind him.

"Mark?"

Mark turned around to come face to face with Chris. "Chris!" Mark suddenly realised that in less then a second he was about to be busted. He concealed the lone pill in a closed fist and prayed to a God he did not believe in that he would not be forced to reveal it.

"Is that... _Vicodin_?" He swooped down and picked up the now empty bottle "It is! Where the hell did you get this from? Why the _FUCK_ do you have this?!"

"I-I-"

"You _what_ Mark?" Chris almost yelled. He quickly realised he was going about this the wrong way. He softened his voice and tried again "Mark where did you get these?"

"I can't tell you that."

"You can't tell me? Okay fine, maybe you'll talk to Dr Shields, it's not like I'm supposed to be your best friend or anything. But what are you doing Mark? I thought you were okay? Dr Shields said you were coping so well without these and now I find out you've had these all along?"

"No, not all along only since yesterday. And to be honest I've been coping horribly."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because... I- I didn't want to seem like a drug addict."

"Mark, there's no shame in-"

"But there is! There is shame. There's _only_ shame. I don't want you, _or anyone_ , to see me like this."

"Why do you do it man?" Chris asked, gesturing to the pills still scattered across the floor.

"Because I'm a mess if I don't and I'm a mess if I do but at least when I do I can focus on stuff without spiralling into an uncontrollable pit of panic. It's like there's this void inside me where people used to be and when I was on Mars, I didn't notice that it was there but when I got back home and I couldn't even talk to _my parents_ properly, I realised something was wrong. And I spoke to Doctor Shields about it at first, she said it was normal for those in isolation to experience this and that it would heal overtime but the more time I spend with you guys the more it grew and I didn't know what to do, I still don't. The only time I feel like myself is when I'm on vicodin." _'Or- or when I'm with Mindy.'_ he didn't add.

"Mark. You should have told me- or someone about this."

"And what would you have done?"

"I don't know! Okay I don't know, I'm a Flight Surgeon, psychiatry isn't what I do, that's why we have Doctor Shields. But I would have helped somehow, any way I knew how, heck I'd have Web MDed it if I had to."

Mark didn't answer, he simply put his hands in the pockets of his trousers and stared at his feet, depositing the tablet in his pocket as he did so. He would have to save it now, it was his last one.

"Mark come on talk to me, say something."

"I-I think I'm just going to go home."

"Mark- come on, please don't. Mark." The man in question quickly pushed past him and through the door "You came here with Mindy!" The doctor called after his friend.

"I'll call an Über."

"Mark, let me at least drive you home."

"No." He stopped "It's you and Beth's night. Don't let me ruin it."

"But I want you to be here. Mark, you're like my best friend man, you know that right."

"I know. You are too I'm just not- I'm not feeling it. You can tell the others I'm still not over my space stomach and I felt sick." and then he was out the door before Beck could do anything to stop him.

Dejectedly Chris returned to the table, to his pregnant fiancé and his closest friends but one friend was missing now. "Where'd Mark go?" Asked Venkat.

"Oh um he said he was feeling sick. My guess he's still not over his weak space stomach, I probably shouldn't have let him eat all that." He gestured his head at the half eaten sticky toffee pudding that was more the whole pudding than a slice of the pudding.

"Oh well it's not the end of the world." Beth patted his leg underneath the table sensing that something was off and it wasn't just Mark's stomach.

"Oh yeah, course not, I was just really hoping he'd be here for the whole thing, you know?"

"I'm sure he would if he could." Mindy told him.

"Yeah." Chris nodded pretty unconvincingly.

They all exchanged awkward and knowing looks. Something had very clearly gone down between them in the bathroom, but would could have happened in that short space of time to cause Mark to leave so abruptly?

"So... Helena, Alex, how are the kids?" Robert Lewis asked the Vogel family trying to side swerve the awkwardness currently clinging to the table.

The German couple _happily_ apprised the table with stories of their children.


	26. 25) Packet Full Of Pills And Not 1 Lover

**A/N: I usually pick titles after I've written most of the chapter but before I read through it so you can imagine my joy when I was surfing the internet for some good song lyrics and then I find the Vicodin song.**

 **I've Got a Packet Full of Pills, And Not One Lover.**

 **The Vicodin Song by Terra Naomi**

When Mark slinked into his empty apartment he took off his jacket and didn't notice how cold it was, having just come from outside. He tossed his jacket onto the floor of his bedroom and flopped onto his bed not even bothering to take off his shoes or tie.

Why did he have to panic like that?

Why did he have to leave and upset Chris like that?

The man was the worst liar when it came to his friends, the whole table probably knew something was up, even Rich who was so bad at reading social cues would be able to tell that something had happened, something more than an upset tummy.

 _'Why!'_ Mark asked himself for the third time that evening.

 _'If I simply lie here,'_ he thought _'Then maybe everything will just sort itself out.'_

And so he did. He lay there, an hour, two, three and suddenly it was morning.

 **O}-'-,-|_] LINE BREAK [_|-,-'-{O**

Mark lay curled up on top of his covers he hadn't slept at all last night and that morning he had texted Mindy and told her to go to work without him that day. He was equal parts relieved and disappointed that she did exactly that and went to work without even checking on him, not even over text.

He shivered and looked at the thermostat near his bedroom door. 7°C (44.6° F). That was cold, especially considering room temperature was supposed to be 20-25°C and he was laying on top of his covers in a thin-ish, long-sleeved shirt, having abandoned his jacket on the floor sometime last night. He couldn't bring himself to move and turn up the temperature or to even climb into his bed and so he just lay there, long past the time he was supposed to be at work, he only knew this because every 20 minutes or so he'd get a text or call from Annie probably demanding to know where the fuck he was.

What must have been 2 hours in but felt like 5 there was a knock on his front door "Mark! It's Siobhan! Could you let me in? It's kinda cold out here!"

He didn't reply, not because he didn't want to speak to her right now (although he didn't) but mainly because he still couldn't bring himself to move. If he ignored her maybe she'd go away too.

"Mark?!" there was silence "Okay that's it I'm coming in!" There was another pause and than the very clear sound of a key being slid into the lock and his door opening. He'd forgotten that she had a spare key. A few seconds later came a knock at his bedroom door "You in there?" She waited "Come one Watney just tell me where you are and make this so much easier." Still no answer. She sighed and pushed open the door "God, how is it colder in here than outside?" She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed the side of them, hoping to create some friction and warmth. "Mark? What are you doing? Are you not freezing?" After getting no reply, she quickly bundled him with the duvet and looked around for another blanket "How long have you been like this?"

"Since I got home."

"That was last night! Have you just been laying there shivering?"

He nodded.

"Why?!" She asked still looking for something warmer.

"I don't know. I just couldn't bring myself to move."

"What happened last night? I bumped into Rich this morning and he said he wasn't quite sure but something weird happened. I asked Chris about it, he hesitated, very pointedly I might add, and then proceeded to lie to me about your bad stomach." She placed her hands on her hips "Why don't you tell me what _really_ happened."

"Is it so hard to believe that I just had a rumbly tummy?"

She put a stern look on her face.

"Fine. You want to know?"

"Yes."

"You really wanna know?"

" _Yes._ "

"I was sitting in that restaurant with all my best friends and yet all I could think was whether Mars screwed me beyond recovery. I'm the only one on the crew with no spouse or partner to speak of and I'm also the oldest and I think the crew worries I'm going to die alone and to be honest I'm starting to think I _will_ and I panicked. I panicked okay! So I went to the toilet to-to swallow a Vicodin tablet that I had acquired from somewhere but then Chris came in behind me and the door hit my back and I ended up dropping them all on the floor and we had a little fight and then I left. I left the restaurant when the only reason we were all there in the first place was to celebrate Beck and Beth being fiancés now and Beth being pregnant and I ruined it with my stupid shit. You said I would get better, you said it would feel easier, and I feel like I'm getting worse."

"Give it _time_ Mark."

The anger that seemed to flaring up more and more randomly decided that now was the perfect time to rear its ugly head. "Time! Time! All you ever do is tell me to give it _time_! _'You'll heal in_ _ **time**_ _', 'You'll feel better with_ _ **time**_ _Mark', 'Your panic attacks will lessen with_ _ **time**_ _Mark', 'The_ fucking void _in your chest will shrink in_ _ **time**_ _Mark!'_ Well I gave it time and it fucking hasn't!"

"That's because you haven't given yourself _enough_ time! You need to get **a grip** on reality Mark, when you get better it's not going to be some princess diaries, Disney princes-level transformation bullshit! You're going to have to work on **staying** better every God Damn day of your life and when you _finally_ feel like you've made it back to the old Mark, there's going to come a time where a situation rubs your memories the wrong way and you get punted back into the past in the form of a panic attack, and the only thing you think can keep you grounded is a bunch of fucking prescription pills but you can't give in to that because then all the work you would have done would have been for nought and you'd be right back at square one, a depressed, lonely astronaut with a vicodin problem."

"So you're saying I can't get better."

"No Mark, you _can_ get better, you _will_ get better, I'm saying you won't be the same. Traumatic experiences change people, but it hasn't stopped your friends, your parents, from caring about you. You can fill that void that you seem so adamant to cling on to, you can stop having panic attacks, you can stop your drug addiction and your apparent self-loathing about the situation you've found yourself in, and you can laugh and you can smile and you can _really mean it_ this time. But you'll never be the same Mark."

"But I want to be the same Mark." His voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. Gone was the angry man ranting about time, this man before her was vulnerable, the before her had been broken and built back up so many times there was almost no part of him left unmarked by the damage and she couldn't take the blunt approach that she'd been using thus far that day. She needed to change with his changes.

"Mark sometimes change can be good. In a big organisation such as NASA being inertia bound can feel like the natural state of the world but in the world, everything is changing and evolving constantly and humans are no exception. If we never evolved we'd still be a bunch of fish and monkeys, or a bunch of dumb-wits who didn't know they were naked depending on what you believe." She shrugged.

He laughed "Did you just describe Adam and Eve as a bunch of dumb-wits? Martinez would not appreciate that at all."

"Well I would like to think you wouldn't tell him I said that."

"You're secrets safe with me, Patient-Doctor confidentiality after all."

Now it was her turn to laugh "Pretty sure it was the other way around."

"Yeah," for lack of a better thing to say he simply said "LOL." which earned an eyebrow raise from the good doctor. "I- I'm sorry, you know. For loosing my temper like that."

"It's okay Mark. It is technically my job."

"Oh yeah! But still...sorry."

"Like I said, it's okay. All is forgiven."

"Thanks."

 **LINE BREAK**

 **DATE: 2036**

 **Patient: Mark Watney**

 **Age: 41**

 **Nationality: American, Chicago**

 **Education: Masters in Engineering and Botany**

 **Occupation: Ex-astronaut, office worker, press celebrity and glorified tour guide**

 **Place of work: NASA Johnson Space Center**

 **Marital Status: N/A**

 **Parents: Charles and Marissa Watney (Alive)**

 **Sibling(s): N/A**

 **Problem: NASA's lack of direction for Mark seems to be playing a large part in his recent relapse. He is so used to working to a constant goal in which if he were to fail he would die that now that NASA has left him to flounder for things to do he doesn't know how he's supposed to handle it.**

 **Solution (Hopefully): Talk to Teddy Sanders, Annie Montrose and Mitch Henderson about giving Mark a real job. One the won't cause his panic attacks to flare and won't be too high stress but still gives him a purpose (much like his potato paper despite the few incidents, maybe even get him to finish his book).**

 **After the Solution Was Tried:**

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 **Problem: Mark seems to have disconnected from other human being in his year and a half isolation on Mars. This has caused him to bottle up his very obvious feelings for Mindy even though all his friends have told him to tell her that he likes her because she definitely likes him back as well as to lash out at several people including, Chris, myself, his TV and the new CNN woman whose name I will look up for future reference. This may also be one of the main causes of his addiction to vicodin (besides the fact that vicodin is actually quite addictive).**

 **Solution: Even though going off vicodin cold turkey no longer has massive health impacts, it is clearly having a negative mental impact so I'll wean him off instead giving him one pill every morning that he can take if he feels anxious. This will promote the need to rate his levels of anxiety as he will need to figure out what is worth using a pill on and what is worth trying to work through it and having it later on for an attack that may be worse.**

 **As for the anger and disconnect problems, I just need to make sure all his friends, especially the main crew and Mindy rally around him in a supportive but non-patronising way.**

 **After the Solution Was Tried:**

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 **After the Solution Was Tried:**

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	27. A Satellite Image Like A Map Of My Brain

**A Satellite Image Like a Map of My Brain**

 **Best be Believing by AlunaGeorge (Shadow Child Remix)**

 **A/N: If you look HERE:** _ **wiki/Beth_Johanssen**_ __ **you'll see my source of information about Beth Johanssen and her company. Obviously the canon is the vaguest thing imaginable so I had to make some stuff up, but it's a _fanfic,_ I do what I want.**

"How are you feeling today Mark?"

"Much better actually. I really had a chance to think about what you said doc, thanks for snapping some sense back into me,, I think I really was losing a grip on reality."

"Well glad to be of some assistance." She smiled at him "Now Mark I've been doing some thinking."

"And?"

"And I realise now that making you quit cold turkey was not good judgement on my part, so instead I propose a plan to help wean you off."

"Okay."

"Every morning I'll give you one pill, and the next morning you either have to present to me the unused pill from the day before or tell what made you decide to take it. Now since you'll only ever have 1 pill on you every day, you'll have to make sure you use it for situations that really require it, not just as a calmer to take the edge off. You should only take it when you so panicked you can't even think straight do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I suggest you rate your levels of panic or anxiety at different moments of the day to get a feel for when you might actually need to use it and when you just want to use it."

"I can do that."

"Okay then now that that's out of the way, anything you want to talk about?"

"Only that I just dug up some old cartoon show from 2016 and it broke my heart!"

"What show?"

"Voltron, I think it was on that thing um Netflix was it?"

"Yeah, I used to love Netflix back in the day, before it went the way of the Blockbuster and got replaced by Hulu and Stan. I actually think I watched Voltron when I was younger, is that the one with the space robot lions?"

"Yeah that's the one! My dad used to watch one of the original ones when I was basically a baby so I thought it would be cool to check out the slightly new version, not bad."

"You know Mark you hardly ever talk about your parents even though I ask about them all the time, why is that? I mean I can tell you love them very much but you seem reluctant to talk about them."

"What can I say? Nothing really. They're my parents. They live in Chicago, they sometimes get pizza and send me picks, they call me virtually everytime I'm in the news and text me good night every day. There's not much else to say about them."

"Well what about when you were a kid?"

"When I was a kid? My parents were my number one supporters. They brought me all my rocket ships and space helmets and telescopes and they brought me all the seeds I could ask for so I could set up my own farm in the back yard and play farmers with my old friend Lisa, who was actually my high school girlfriend. They told me to never let anyone call me a nerd for my love of space, although my sense of humour meant that people rarely ever did even if I sometimes hung out with the un-popular crowd. Dad would recount me with stories of the court case from his days as a lawyer and mum would tell me all about how she'd hitch hiked across the whole of America as a teenager, right before college(Uni). They were my heroes, they still are."

"See now that doesn't seem like nothing to me. They sound like interesting, inspiring and caring people to grow up with."

"They are."

"You know, when you're an adult your parents feel less and less needed, maybe you should tell them all that, ya-know."

"Yeah. Yeah okay. I will."

"Great! Well Mark, that's our time." She got up pulled a painting away from the wall to reveal quite a large safe and typed in a combination concealed by her body. She opened it and pulled out a tablet tray of about 9 pills. "You get one everyday remember." She reminded him as she cut out one single tablet, ensuring to keep it fresh in its packaging.

In the safe was the most tablets, pills, anti-depressants and painkillers he had ever seen in his entire life. "That is a lot of stuff."

"Yeah it is, hence why I have this safe behind a painting." She handed him the pill "One more time what are you going to do with this?"

"Not take it unless I really, really super duper have to use it."

"Yes." She handed it to him "I'll know if you don't stick to that."

"How?"

"I'll feel the disturbance in the force."

"What?" He asked confused before remembering "A Star Wars reference?"

"You're not the only nerd around here Mark, now off you go, you have work to do and so do I."

When Mark got back to his office he was pleasantly surprised to find Beth Johanssen sitting in his chair on the main side of his desk waiting for him to return. "Johanssen!" He exclaimed

"Hey Watney."

"What are you doing here?"

"A combination of reasons. Mainly because you skipped out before the end of dinner and I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"And the other reasons?"

"First talk to me, then we'll see about those other reasons, they're not as important. Now spill the beans, what really happened. I know it wasn't a dodgy stomach that had you rushing out of there so quick, you would have at least said goodbye to everyone if it had been. And Chris has been _no help whatsoever_ in trying to solve this at all, but hey, at least he's trustworthy."

Mark debated telling her before deciding she deserved to know, she was one of his best friends, and she had been willing to _eat_ people for him, Martinez of all people. "Yeah okay," He said with a sigh, taking a seat on the chair usually meant for guests to his office. "I just had a minor panic attack and a minor relapse."

"Oh! Is that all?! Just a small one, oh well I shouldn't worry at all-Mark why wouldn't you tell me this!"

"Because I didn't want you guys to worry!"

"Mark, I'm going to worry a lot more if I you don't talk to me, the mind fears the unknown the most. We're a crew, it's practically my job to worry about you jokers. What set off your panic attack?"

Mark winced, thinking it would be in bad taste to simply say _'Oh since you and Christ are getting married I was worried I'd be alone forever so it was basically your fault for being happy and triggering a fear I didn't even know I had.'_ so instead he decided to not tell her anything in order to avoid lying "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Mark you have to talk to someone!"

"And I am! I talk to Doctor Shields everyday even if I'm away. Beth, you don't need to worry about me, no way in hell is NASA gonna let me get anything but better after this shit storm."

"Yeah okay. I'm just glad you're okay." She paused "Wait. A relapse? Of Vicodin?"

"Yeah."

"Where'd you get those from? I thought your prescription stopped."

Mark winced again, "Yeah um...What was that other thing you came here for?"

Beth raised an eyebrow at his seamless conversation changers "Okay I'll bite. One of my friends from my old tech start-up recently messaged me and wondered if you could do an ad spot for his new company."

"Tech start-up?" he asked confused for a second before recognition dawned on his face "Oh you mean Eden-Tech? Your pre-Stanford company that you ditched for NASA?"

"Yeah that one. And I didn't just ditch it, it wasn't going to get any better then it already had so I transferred power to my friend, the same friend actually." She lazily spun on Mark's office chair, looking over some of the pictures, certificates and knick-knacks he had behind his desk.

"Does this friend of yours have a name?"

"Oh yeah, Tony Mansfield. He usually just goes by his last name."

"How many people were even in your start-up?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry it just still blows my mind that you literally had a company before you had even graduated Stanford and then went straight to Space X and then straight to NASA. Like that's crazy! Now that I've remembered you did that I just want to know."

"Well it was me, Mansfield, Eric Rumlow, Julia Edwards, Gretta Worthington and Chioma 'Chi-chi' Onwezebe." _(that's pronounced On-Wez-Eh-Bae)_

"Hang on! Worthington? Where have I heard that name?"

"She's a new Finance Minister. She doesn't technically do what the others do though, it's a new position."

"The one where they get computers to help them do their jobs?"

"That's the one. Wow you have some high up friends."

"Well I am friends with 'National Hero Mark Watney'."

"It's actually 'American Hero' thank you very much." He laughed at the over used news tag-line, before asking one more question "So this Mansfield guy, he's still running your company?"

"Yeah."

"So the add, it's for your old company as well then?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then tell him I'll probably do it, but not for free, but for a reduced price 'cos your my friend, but if it's stupid I'm not doing it so send me the script or whatever in advance."

"Thank you Mark, I really appreciate it."

"Of course! I mean I've done ads before it's not like it's anything too hard, but I would do anything for you Beth." The two smiled at each other and then Beth's pager went off, she jumped having not used the thing in years and Mark actually did a double take "Is that- is that a _pager_?"

"Yeah, some of the systems crashed so they had to give everyone pagers. These things were outdated _before_ I was born. I honestly don't think I've ever even used one."

"I don't think I've seen a pager since I was like 13. I mean really... so what's happening that they had to page you?"

"Um..."S eh said still trying to decipher the few letter able to appear on the pixelated screen "I think it's a virus?" She answered with a questioning, unsure tone "I better get back there and make sure everything's okay."

"Yeah, you get going, see you later Super Nerd Queen."

" _Smell_ you later Captain Blondebeard." She smiled, tucker her pager back into her pocket and vacating Mark's seat. She left his spacious office with one last smile.

"Well I better get some work done." he said to no one as he moved from the guest chair to his own chair and logged into his computer only to find that nothing was working. "Great." He sighed. Looked around at his empty office before standing up and looking around again. "What to do now?" he asked himself. "What to do now." He repeated slightly louder as if that would help him think of something to do. He stretched unnecessarily and then interlocked his fingers and cracked his knuckles "What to do now."

He could go see Mindy over in Sat Com, if his computer wasn't working then hers probably wasn't either and her whole job revolves around the screen. Although that might seem weird, he's already been accused of dating her because of all the time he spent in Sat Com and he didn't want her to ask about why he left the dinner early and then didn't go to work the next day. Maybe he'd follow Beth to the tech...area. See what virus or whatever has made it's way into the NASA mainframe, but if the computer weren't working then others probably had the same idea, and he didn't want to deal with a mob of annoyed people trying to get some work done. Martinez was probably around her somewhere, but he might be training for the next Ares mission, he didn't want to psych out the new team by showing up during training, he might end up being a bad omen to Ares missions or something. Lewis would probably have found some other way to get all her work done and would tell him to go away, although she'd become a lot warmer since she stopped being their Commander and started to just be Melissa (although he would always call her Lewis). Beck was somewhere else at one of the many medical centres dotted around Houston so it was no use trying to track down that guy whilst he was working which left him back at square one.

"What to do indeed."

Eventually after re-checking his computer, he decided to risk the angry mob that was sure to be gathered around the Tech area and went in search of Beth Johanssen and her nerdy colleagues.

When he got there he was sad to have been proven correct when the very large crowd, parted like the red sea when they saw Mark approaching. They allowed him an unhindered access to the door which was immediately opened for him despite the fact that everyone else had been shut out. Before he had gotten stranded on Mars, even if he had gone to Mars and back, he would have been locked out there in the heat with all those people, sometimes being an 'American Hero' had its up sides.

"Fancy seeing you here so soon." Beth said over he shoulder barely looking at him she typed some complicated code, bringing in previous functions she had made before and typing out things in-between them. The army of people to all sides of her were doing the same thing some gulping down what looked like way too hot coffee in order to maintain their levels of productivity.

"What happened?"

"Your computer down too?"

"Yeah, turned it on and it went red and then froze."

"Yeah that's what happened to us, we had to hack our own computers to get them functioning again."

"So is it a virus?"

"Worse."

"What's worse then a virus?"

Some guy to the left of them answered his question "A competent or group of competent hackers."

"NASA's being hacked?!" He exclaimed "Why? We release everything to the public anyway."

"Well not everything. We keep all sorts of stuff on the system that aren't available for public consumption." Beth chimed in.

The man who Mark did not know continued to talk in their conversation. "Yeah, any missions that are being planned but aren't official yet, meal plans for the cafeteria, staff members wages, some private messages sent over the system, medical records, PR stunts-"

"Hang on what? Medical records?"

"Yeah. Like the physical and mental assessments of all the astronau...oooh. Yeah, this could be a problem for you."

Beth winced as a different guy on the right of them scoffed "For all we know, this could be _targeted_ at you."

"Oh my God! Beth what if they are targeting me!? They could dig up my whole life! They have my address on file somewhere, they might start staking out my apartment! They'll know everything I said to Doctor Shields for the past several months! Oh my _God_!"

"Mark you need to calm down! I'm sure it will be fine!"

"I don't know-" The second of the interrupting guys started before being shut up by a scathing look from Johanssen.

"We keep the private stuff much more protected then the public stuff for obvious reasons, they probably haven't even gotten past the first firewall, I helped set those up you know."

"You're right. Don't let me distract you...three. Get back to whatever you're doing."

"I never stopped." And indeed she hadn't, even through that conversation, she had continued to type coding so fast, her fingers were a blur to Mark's slightly sensitive eyes.

"Wow. That's fast."

"It's my job to be." She answered.

"Well I'll leave you to it." Mark said as he made his way to the door to leave.

When he opened the door, the crowd all tried to peak in whilst also trying to stay out of his way which made for an amusing sight as several people at the front of the crowd ended up falling over or being pushed to the ground, amongst one of the ones pushed was Mindy's friend who Mark easily recognised as Rachel. He went over to her and offered her a hand "Rachel, you okay?" He asked, unable to ignoring some of the jealous looks some of the other people were giving her. He couldn't help but search the crowd to see if Mindy was there too.

"Yeah, thanks Mark." She said taking his hand and using it to hoist herself up "Do you know what's going on?"

"Sort of. They said it should be fine, they'll have the computer running soon enough, it's their jobs you know."

Someone yelled "Is it a virus?"

""You know I don't think I should answer any question on their behalf. I'll wait for them to issue an official statement."

Rachel sighed "My boss sent me here to get an answer. He told me not to come back until there was one."

A chorus of "Same"s emanated from the crowd.

"Well tell your bosses to suck it. Actually no that's a bad idea. Tell them that Mark Watney says to suck it. Actually no, that's even worse tell them Mark Watney says that the issue will be fixed shortly and to be patient."

They all looked at each other shrugged and started dispersing back to their own departments at the same time Annie Montrose media mogul came storming up the corridor looking furious "What! Is going on?!" She exclaimed tot eh crown full of leaving people and Mark.

"Annie."

"Mark. What is going on."

"Ask them." He said pointing at the door now behind him.

"Oh believe me, I will. My speech better have saved!"

Mark felt sorry for the poor tech guys who had to deal with an angry Annie. But not sorry enough to go back and try and calm her down, he escaped back to the relative safety of his office. "I'm not getting any more involved then I already am thank you." He said again to himself as he kicked his feet up on his desk and unlocked his phone. He clicked the youtube app and then went straight for the search button using muscle memory and then... nothing happened.

 **NO CONNECTION**

"Oh what? The wifi's broken too? No wonder people were so annoyed." He sighed as he switched on his 10G "This is just great."

 **A/N: If 2G is normal text/SMS, 3G is portable wifi, 4G is faster portable wifi then 10G is probably like wifi in space or something. Who knows how they'll keep levelling up the Gs I don't know what the 10th one does all I know is that it will be pretty damn cool.**

 **When I wrote this it was right after binging Voltron season 2.**

 **I have no idea how the hell pagers work okay. Me and Johanssen are noughties kids. Beth was actually born in 2006 which makes her younger than me which is weird.**


	28. Just Noise White Noise& Hear Me Cryin

**Just Noise, White Noise... And Hear Me Crying**

 **White Noise by Disclosure and AlunaGeorge**

Mark woke up the next morning feeling the most calm he'd felt since landing back on Earth. He didn't know what it was but something about today just told him that today was going to be a good day. Yesterday, Beth and her geek squad had gotten all the computer back online just after lunch, which was lucky as people were starting to get a bit antsy. People had converged around coffee machines and in break rooms to talk and let me tell you when you get a bunch of nerds in s room with nothing to do one of three things happen. A huge debate with whole departments squaring off against each other; mad science, people trying to manually plan the most outlandish of experiments on paper; and gossip, during the few hours where nothing got done, rumours ran rampant, rumours about why the computers were down, rumours about all the heads of NASA and whether Annie was fucking any of them, rumours about who the next Ares crews would be after IV, all sorts of topics ranging from NASA stuff to trivial tabloid trash were being tossed about. It was a relief when the computers had come back online and Beth had assured him that the hackers hadn't gotten to anything important and all her firewalls had protected them.

He rolled out of bed before his phone alarm had even rung and made sure to turn it off so he wouldn't get interrupted in the shower, before grabbing his towel and practically gliding over to his bathroom.

He took the extra time to wash his hair before work which he usually didn't do and then even managed to get that one spot on his back he couldn't reach properly. When he got off he towelled off an moisturised, still trapped in his little bubble of peaceful bliss he then got dressed and moved over to his kitchen. He made himself some scrambled egg, bacon and toast before making himself a quick cup of coffee and sitting down at his table.

He got out his phone only to find his Twitter had 4 862 new notifications, he had 874 unseen messages and about 100 missed calls give or take a few. "What?" He wondered aloud as he turned on his TV instantly the news popped up.

 _" And in a shocking news story that broke whilst I'm sure many of you were asleep, it was revealed that an anonymous group actually hacked into NASA revealing many things including American Hero Mark Watney's health records. Many were_ /em shocked em _by the news that the world famous astronaut is in fact addicted to over the counter Vicodin. It was also revealed that the The Martian has a variety of mental health issues ranging from panic attacks to what some might call violent outbursts. Now if you harken back to CNN's Mark Watney Report when this tweet was shown on the screen: ***The tweet from chapter 8 telling Watney to kill himself pops up on screen*** Mark Watney started yelling at the host of the show, Kate Wilson, and physically threatened her. It has also been stated in his medical records that the hand injury the NASA employee sustained previously was from punching his TV after he had in fact overdosed-"_

Mark dropped his phone as he stared at the screen and saw all his lowest points being announced to the world like it was the weather. This made no sense! Beth had assured everyone that the hackers had only gotten as far as their planning for future missions, she said the medical records were _safe._ The only thing that stopped him from simply sitting there and letting the TV play on was the fact that he then dropped his boiling hot coffee onto his lap. He leapt up with a yelp and fanned his trousers trying to cool down the brown liquid. And the jolt of adrenaline mixed with all the other emotions he was feeling amalgamated into a panic attack because of course it fucking would.

"Oh my God." He said and he turned off his new TV. " _Oh my God!_ " he grabbed his phone and went onto Twitter News.

 _ **NASA hack reveals Mark Watney is a drug addict.**_

 _ **NASA hack exposes 'American Hero' Mark Watney.**_

 _ **The Martian Has Some Anger Issues.**_

 _ **#OhHowTheMightFall and #LetHimDie are trending on Twitter.**_

 _ **#BringHimHome is being tweeted about by your followers.**_

 _ **#MarkWatney and #TheMartian are trending on Twitter and amongst your followers.**_

Mark couldn't breath as he saw only the front page of Twitter. What were the actually people saying? They would be tearing him apart online and in real life.

He tried to take deep breaths, to focus on something positive, to get back the bliss he had been living in just seconds before he turned on the News but if the tremor in his hands was any indication, he could do no such thing. "Oh my God." He repeated.

He sunk to his kitchen floor, leaning against his cabinets and couldn't help but remember how familiar this scene was. Him alone and helpless and panicking on his kitchen floor, in the middle of a storm (only this time a Media Shit Storm) just trying to get a grip. He wished Mindy was here right now, he wished she would rush in from next door and calm him down and hold him like she had done all that time ago.

He fumbled for his phone trying to call anyone. Who should he call? And then he heard it the knocking on his door. The knocking that was much too heavy to be Mindy or Beth, much to light to be Chris or Martinez, much too calm to be Annie but too erratic to be Lewis or Vogel. Who was that?"

"Mr Watney? Could I get a quote for the Daily Planet?"

His eyes widened. They knew where he lived. They _knew_ where he _lived_!

He decided to call Chris only because he didn't want Mindy caught up in this any more than necessary but his shaking hands would behave properly and made pressing any of the correct button impossible. "Hey siri."

 _"What can I do for you, Mark."_

"Call Chris."

 _"Which Chris would you like to call?"_

Mark saw a list of about 5 different Chrises pop up "Chris Beck."

 _"Which number for Christopher 'Dr Bossy Beck' Beck would you like to call?"_

Mark sighed at how long it was taking "M- mobile." He grumbled stuttering when he heard the unmistakable sound of two reporters fighting for the first quote outside his door.

 _"I'm sorry, Mark, I didn't quite catch that. Which number for Christopher 'Dr Bossy Beck' Beck would you like to call?"_

"Mobile." He growled impatiently into his phone.

 _"Calling Chris Beck-Mobile."_

"30 years and Siri is still shit." He muttered to himself as he listened to the steady 'beep beep...beep beep' sound coming from his phone.

"Hey Mark! What can I do for you?"

Mark could tell that he hadn't heard the news yet "You know NASA got hacked yesterday?"

"Yeah Beth said she sorted it."

"Check the news."

There was a pause on the other side of the line as Chris presumably did just that and then "Oh my God Mark!"

"They're outside my house. What do I do?"

"I'm coming over right now. Me and Beth. And I'm calling Lewis and Martinez as well. I'd call Vogel but he's too far out, although maybe we can hide out at his place. Just sit tight okay. We'll be there really soon." He then hung up.

Mark realised he was still sitting on the floor and reached into his pocket where he had stored the pill he hadn't taken yesterday. Right now seemed like the perfect time to take it but if today continued on its current trajectory, his day might end up getting way worse. "I'll just sit tight."


	29. 28) Zig-Zag Running Through My Heart

**That Zig-Zag Running Through My Heart**

 **Lighting by Little Mix**

 **Kate Wilson CNNWilson**

 **I will have you know #MarkWateny did _not_ threaten me at all! He was nothing but understanding about our _massive_ screw up and I will be talking more about this tomorrow on The MW Report at 7. #BringHimHome**

Annie had an army of interns and actual employees scouring the internet "This is a fucking shit storm." She said running her hand through her pony tail "This is an actual fucking disaster."

"Ma'am, Kate Wilson tweeted that Mark was nothing but nice and didn't threaten her and she'll go into more detail in the show tomorrow." A brunette intern called out.

"Well that's good I guess. Although I'm not sure how seriously people take Kate. If it was Cathy maybe but Kate's not known for her hard-hitting journalism despite the fact that she's actually very good."

"Cathy?" The intern asked confused.

"Cathy! Cathy Warner!" Annie exclaimed annoyed she had to explain, she was even more annoyed when she saw the younger woman still had no idea who she was talking about "God Chelsea! Do I have to explain everything! She's the original host of The Mark Watney Report!"

"Sorry ma'am." Chelsea squeaked.

"It's fine. Go get Mindy Park for me will you."

"Mindy's not in yet Ma'am."

"What?"

"Well she usually drives to work _with_ Watney so they must live close. I assume she's a bit scared to leave her house with all the media around."

"Damn it, you're right she actually lives-"

"Ma'am!" Dan, a new addition to her permanent staff, yelled.

"You just interrupted me Doug!"

"It's Dan... and I'm sorry but we have movement."

"Is Mark leaving his apartment?!" Annie exclaimed rushing over to the giant monitor he was looking at.

"No it seems the Ares III crew are going to him."

Annie smiled as she saw _Lewis going into scary commander mode and scolding the media like children at the same time Beth seemed to be checking a text on her phone._

" _You know who," Beth said, doing a vague head gesture in the direction of Mindy's apartment "just asked what they should do."_

 _Martinez shrugged "Tell them on the count of three to dash across."_

" _That doesn't seem like a good-" Chris started_

" _That's a great idea." Lewis finished._

" _It is?" Chris and Rick asked at the same time._

" _Yes. Tell her to do it on three."_

 _Her phone binged "She's ready." relayed Beth._

 _Chris supplied a key for Mark's apartment and got ready to unlock the door._

" _One." Melissa said slowly and then abruptly skipped "Three!"_

 _Mindy dashed out of her apartment carrying her keys, phone, laptop and chargers, closed her door behind her and into the open door of Mark's apartment. The 4 astronauts followed quickly and efficiently behind and then closed the door._

"Ha." Annie laughed "They may be a media nightmare, but they're pretty great."

Suddenly Siobhan burst in "This is terrible!" She exclaimed "Not only is this bad just in general but everyone judging my assessments of him may set back his progress for all I fucking know!"

"Irene." Annie said "It's been a while."

"This is no time for pleasantries Annie! The fucking world is burning down around us!"

Annie laughed sarcastically "I do NASA PR Doc. I put out fires everyday. This," she widely gestured around the large hall "is my empire, I'll show you how it's done or better yet, maybe Dan can tell you how I told him it was done."

"Um." Dan looked like a deer frozen in headlights "First issue a statement asking the press to respect the privacy of those involved?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"Um...an answer." Dan said still unsure.

"Correct. Work on your confidence. Chelsea, what's the next step."

"Schedule a press conference with leaders in the field of the topic." The brunette stating trying to sound more confident then Dan had and succeeding.

"Well done. In this case Irene that's you, Kate Wilson and Chris Beck. Jerome, what's step three?" She asked the African American man scrolling Twitter.

"Um-what? Step three? Um- brief the subject of the press conference on what they can and can't say."

"Good. And last but not least Irene, you should be able to figure out the next step from your work on the human mind."

She scoffed "Make sure they believe whatever bull-shit story you told them?"

"Close." Annie replied "It's actually to make sure they believe and then relay my bull-shit story to others so that they then believe. And if you look to this screen on your left you'll see a draft of the message to respect privacy and to your right is a list of the companies invited to our press conference."


	30. 29) Papa-Papa-Paparazzi

**Papa-Papa-Paparazzi**

 **Paparazzi by Lady Gaga**

The crew pushed their way through the paparazzi huddled outside the apartment building. Lewis had a scowl on her face that made a couple people scatter as they approached. When they got to Mark's apartment and saw the people knocking on the door begging for quotes, yelling questions an arguing with each other about who got to ask the first question Lewis lost it "Everyone here should be ashamed of themselves!" Everyone went silent as the Ares III crew rolled onto the scene.

"Commander Lewis what are your thoughts on-"

"Shut up. I will not be answering any questions because this is a _gross_ misconduct of press power. Mark was alone on a planet for a year and a half. A year in which he had to do backbreaking work; lifting large rocks to transport objects and send messages, getting blown up, rolling in the rover. In case you haven't notice there are no doctors on Mars and Watney didn't have any time to let it heal with time. Now I'm going to go in there and by the time I come back out you better all be gone other wise I will not be held responsible to any damage you sustain. You have been warned." She turned from the crowd to Beth when the younger woman got a text on her phone.

After a series of events that you have already seen:

 _"You know who," Beth said, doing a vague head gesture in the direction of Mindy's apartment "just asked what they should do."_

 _Martinez shrugged "Tell them on the count of three to dash across."_

" _That doesn't seem like a good-" Chris started_

" _That's a great idea." Lewis finished._

" _It is?" Chris and Rick asked at the same time._

" _Yes. Tell her to do it on three."_

 _Her phone binged "She's ready." relayed Beth._

 _Chris supplied a key for Mark's apartment and got ready to unlock the door._

" _One." Melissa said slowly and then abruptly skipped "Three!"_

 _Mindy dashed out of her apartment carrying her keys, phone, laptop and chargers, closed her door behind her and into the open door of Mark's apartment. The 4 astronauts followed quickly and efficiently behind and then closed the door._

Mindy, Beth, Chris, Rick and Melissa bolted into Marks apartment and locked the media out once again.

They found Mark sitting on his kitchen floor with a a puddle of coffee spilling out of a broken mug on the floor.

"Mark," Melissa asked softly "are you okay?"

"How am I supposed to be? I mean some of this fucking stuff I didn't even tell you guys and now the whole fucking world knows! What am I supposed to do?!"

Beth had a small frown on her face "I'm sure the media will forget about this soon. They tend to do that. All they need is some other news and they'll forget about- about all of this."

"What if that doesn't happen. What if instead of forgetting about my drug addiction and my panic attacks and my 'violent tendencies'; that's all I become known for? What if in 10 years kids are flicking through the history of NASA and the only two things about me are 'Got left on Mars, escaped, and then became a violent druggie'."

"Annie would rather die than let that be the way you're remembered!" Chris said.

"Yeah." Mark nodded "Yeah I guess you're right, but she can't control peoples minds."

Rick laughed "What do you thing propaganda is?"

Lewis seamlessly transitioned from Melissa Lewis: wife, to Commander Lewis: Commander. "This is all well and good but right now we need to move. The five-" she looked at Mindy "six of us can not remain holed up in Mark's apartment, however, we can't make a mad dash for it either as that will feed the press and make them more interested in us."

"So what do we do?" Johanssen asked.

Lewis thought for a second "Mark, what's your fire escape situation like?"

Mark paused "I don't know. I've never thought about it...Mindy?"

Mindy stepped in, having lived in the building longer. "Yeah the fire escapes lead to a gap around the back of the building where all the bins are. We could get a care round there but I'm not sure if it would be undetected, the press could be anywhere."

"Okay." Rick said nodding "So we call someone to come round with a car big enough for the six of us plus a driver, then we grab some of Mark's stuff, sneak out the fire escape and hide out at Vogel's place."

"Looks like we have a plan." Chris smiled "I'll call Vogel, tell him our plan."

"And I'll call Annie, I'm sure she can get us a ride." Lewis added.

The two of them got out their phones and started making calls.

"I'll scope out the fire escape. See if anyone's there." Rick announced, leaving Mindy and Beth with Mark.

"And then there were three." Beth said as everyone separated to do their own separate thing.

Mark scoffed at that "I bet that friend of yours doesn't want me for his advert anymore."

"Well I haven't asked, but if he doesn't, who cares. Screw him. Screw everyone who doesn't know you and thinks they have the right to judge you."

Mark's phone started ringing. Mindy picked it up and handed it to the man accidentally checking the caller ID out of habit "It's your mum."

Mark's eyes widened mentally going anything he'd ever told Dr Shields about his parents that she could have written down:

' _Reluctant to talk about parents._

 _Doesn't feel comfortable talking to parents._

 _Doesn't think they're that interesting._

 _His parents are his heroes._ '

He was glad Doc Shields asked him to elaborate when talking about his parents because without that last part, he would have seemed like the worst son.

He took the phone from Mindy and answered the call "Mum. Um...hi." Mark winced at how nervous he sounded.

 _"Mark sweetie, why didn't you tell us about any of this!? You know you can talk to us, right?"_

"I know that Ma, I do, I just didn't want to disappoint you I guess."

 _"Honey, you have degrees in literal rocket science-"_

"-Well I mean engineering and botany isn't-"

 _"-You're an astronaut and you've never gotten tired of your old parents nagging you every time you come home. I could , **never** be disappointed in you."_

"Thanks Ma." There were several louder bangs on the front door "What are they trying to do? Break down my door?" He asked the two woman.

"I don't know what they're doing but whatever we're doing, we should do it quick."

"Ma, I gotta go. Tell Pa I love'im okay."

 _"Okay bye sweetie." I'll talk to you later okay. Call me after all this okay."_

"I will. Bye Ma."


	31. Falling,So I'm Taking My Time On My Ride

**Falling, So I'm Taking My Time On My Ride**

 **Ride by Twenty One Pilots**

"Okay guys, Annie says our ride is here." Lewis said looking up from her phone "Mark you all packed?"

Mark gestured to the back pack by his feet "Yep."

"Then let's roll out."

Out of pure habit, the crew ended up standing in their formation with Lewis and Martinez at the top, Chris in the middle, leaving a gap where Vogel would have been, and Beth and Mark at the back as the lowest ranking members, Mindy stood behind them as she observed the team wondering how any one group of people could be so in sync.

Lewis opened the large window that led out to the fire escape and peaked out to the ground below "Okay. I see the car, I don't see any paparazzi."

"Neither do I." Rick agreed, looking out of the window as well. The two proceeded out the window and down the rusting ladder. "I hope you've all had your tetanus shots." Rick called upwards, screwing up his nose as the feeling of rust ingrained itself into his palms.

Chris followed, down the ladder once the pair was out of the way. "Ekgh!" Exclaimed Chris "You weren't joking. Mark watch your hands, your immune system is better but it's still shot to shit."

"Yeah sure." Mark called down as he positioned himself on the browning metal. The shade of red was so particular, so familiar, so _similar_ it made him freeze for what would have only been a second if it wasn't for the fact that the last time he even thought about ladders was on Sol 6 (Sol 18 for movie fans).

 _He remembered Lewis screaming to get to the MAV, to open the hatch and get to the ladder, he remembered the red dust, that particular, familiar, similar shade of red whipping past his face, he remembered being hit by a satellite, Beth's arm reaching out for him-_

Beth's arm reaching out for him. She placed a hand on his "Mark? You okay?" She asked concerned.

He looked behind Beth and saw Mindy also staring with growing concern "Yeah." Mark replied, snapping out of his flash back, "Yeah, thanks, let's just get out of here." He continued clambering down, Chris below him and Johanssen above him and Mindy above her. They were all here because he had asked them to be. Vogel had _opened his home_ to the 6 of them. He had needed them. Needed them to help him calm down, to help him breath right and without even questioning it they had all come to his aid. He found himself tearing up half way down the ladder and hoped to the gods of hope that he wouldn't start blubbering right now.

Eventually, they all reached the ground and clambered into the car and Mark managed it without bursting into tears, thankfully.

"Hi guys!" The driver said; he was quite a stout man, looking to be in his mid forties with shiny black hair (that was thinning, just a bit, around the crown) and green eyes that seemed to be filled with mischief, "The name's O'Harah, Donny O'Harah. I'm a good friend of Annie's."

"How exactly do you know Annie?" Lewis asked.

"We used to be friends back in high school and then reconnected after she left College (Uni). Before she worked for NASA I would help her out by driving her around and making her seem important, act as her chauffeur, she claims to this day that she wouldn't have gotten the job she has now without me but I don't believe that, she's pretty amazing. At what she does I mean."

As the rest of the crew smirked and exchanged glances because this guy was clearly in love with Annie, Mark just wondered if this was how he looked to everyone else about Mindy. He assumed that he must if they had all figured out that he liked Mindy, but did that mean Mindy had been doing the same thing for him and he just hadn't noticed? He sighed, slightly louder then he had meant to, because even if Mindy did like him, _now_ was not the time to be sorting that out. Besides if they started dating, she would never be left alone, the media, the mobs they would follow her everywhere. As for her job? Any promotion she got people would think it was because of him, that might cause more people like Pearce Kennedy to show their true colours. And speaking of Pearce Kennedy...

"Oh my God." Mindy exclaimed when she checked her phone.

"What is it?" Lewis asked, not wanting any more media surprises.

"Pearce has gone to the press!" Mindy exclaimed reaching out blindly to find Mark's hand.

To Mark, she looked like she was losing her shit, she looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack and for the second time that car ride to Vogels' he wondered if that's what he looked like. At least he was wondering that until the name Pearce clicked into the memory part of his brain milliseconds later "WHAT?! That douche?!"

"The mainstream media's picked him up, they're quoting him like he's actual news! Mark everyone's going to believe him! Have you seen the things he's been saying about me!? About _you_!? This is a nightmare! I need to call my mum, she's going to see this in seconds!" She was starting to ramble hysterically.

Mark grabbed her phone to see what it was exactly that had gotten Mindy so worked up and as he scrolled through the headlines and saw the smarmy pictures of Pearce smirking at the camera his eyes widened. His jaw clenched and the vein on his forehead, that he was rarely ever mad enough for it to be visible, bulged out of his head. "That absolute douchebag! Next time I see him I swear to God I'll-"

"Oh he would love that! Punch him in the face again and prove to the world you have anger issues? Mark he's not worth it trust me."

"You punched him in the face?" Donny exclaimed "That's amazing. I don't know who you're talking about but the guy sounds like a real tool."

"Actually Mark, you never told me about this."

"Yeah me too." Lewis added.

"Remember when I said I broke my cast? Well I broke it on his face." Mark shrugged.

"Yeah but what exactly did he do to get a punch?" Lewis prompted.

"Well I mean-you know..."

"Actually you never told me either so we _don't_ know." Beck frowned "How did you get away with not telling me why you punched a guy?"

Mindy sighed "He probably said it wasn't his secret to tell. I went to the storage cupboard, Pearce followed me, he tried to get into my pants, I pushed him away, went to Mark's office, he got fired. End of story."

The car went silent. The lack of detail led most of them to believe that Pearce had done a lot worse than simply _'try to get into_ her _pants'_ but at the same time, Chris wondered if she was just embarrassed.

"Guys," she said noticing their uncharacteristic silence "he didn't like, _rape me_ or anything. He was just kinda creepy. We reported him to HR and he was gone within the hour."

"Well what's he been saying?" Donny asked, full of curiosity.

Mindy took her phone back from Mark, "I used to like him but when he 'asked me out' I declined because- WHAT! -because apparently I'm a gold digga who wants to date Mark for his fame! And apparently I told him this, realised he could use this information against me and so got him fired by telling HR that he'd raped me even though he didn't! He's painting me as the villain! Like I'm some sort of money grabbing whore! How dare he!"

"Don't worry Mindy, Annie will get this all sorted out." Mark said comfortingly.

The two stared at each other and for a second the rest of the crew thought they were honestly going to kiss right then and there but then Donny interrupted, having been driving and not seen the moment for what it was, "Annie really is brilliant. She has the respect and admiration of every reporter she's ever talked to let me tell you. And she she has the real story of what this Pearce guy did she's gonna kick 'im where it hurts, trust me. Annie doesn't hold back when it comes to creeps like that."

Mindy broke eye contact with Mark, looked down and then looked into the front mirror, linking eyes with Donny "Thanks Donny. You're right, I'm sure she'll sort this all out. And I'm sure no one I know will think this is true but I just don't like all these strangers judging me like this: thinking they know me, thinking that what he says is truth."

"Why don't you call your mum? I'm sure that will make you _and her_ feel better." Lewis suggested softly, Melissa didn't have any kids but Mark suspected that if she did that's how she would talk to one.

Mindy nodded, hands still a bit shaky as she found her mum's contact in her phone and called it. It rang one an a half times and them immediately Mindy was bombarded by a flurry of worried statements and questions _"Oh my God! Mindy are you okay? Have you seen what they're saying about you on the news? It's not true is it? I don't think it's true but they're saying it's true! I thought you and that Mark boy were just friends or whatever it was you were telling me! Where are you now? You're not answering your home phone! Please tell me you're not dead in a ditch somewhere! Talk to-"_

"Mum! I'm fine. Or at least I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere. What they're saying isn't true, c'mon mum, you know me as for where I am, seeing as these guys can even hack NASA maybe it's best I don't say my location over the phone. I'm with friends though."

 _"Friends you trust? They won't sell you out to the media?"_

"Oh trust me, these guys _definitely/em_ won't sell me out to the media."

 _"Okay. Okay, that's good. I'm glad you're safe. I've been in quite a state all morning. Oh and_ of course _that nosy neighbour Angela has been poking around."_

"She wouldn't be Angela if she didn't know everyone else's business." She looked out of the window and realised that they had pulled up outside on Vogel's house. She had never been but she could tell from the way everyone seemed to relax a bit, as if they'd reached a safe haven. As if they'd be travelling through space, through the unknown, where anything could happen and they'd finally touched back down on Earth. "I got to go mum, but I'll call you later okay?"

 _"Okay. I love you dear."_

"I love you too mum."


	32. 31) The War Keeps Raging On

**The War Outside Your Door Keeps Raging On**

 **Safe And Sound- The Hunger Games Soundtrack by Taylor Swift**

Vogel's wife, Helena, was the one who opened the door after they'd said farewell to Donnie. She looked around at her neighbours houses before hurrying them all into the house.

"Oh you poor dears." She said as she pulled Mark into a hug "I just saw on the news, the press got impatient, they actually knocked down your door."

"They what?!"

"They're practically picking through your life at this point. Every picture of your parents, of the crew, every medicine in your cabinet. That broken mug on the floor. Everything."

Mark sighed "They've gone _too_ far. I understand having a job to do but breaking into my home? That's- that's-"

"It's unethical, uncalled for and illegal. Freedom of Press is not supposed to be used like that." Finished Chris.

"We need to talk to Annie. If we can give them a statement or a quote maybe they'll calm down a bit." Beth said "Then again, it could make them more rabid." She sighed "How does Annie do this on a daily basis?"

"Well you're right about one thing, we _do_ need to talk to Annie." Rick agreed, pulling out his phone and dialling the PR director.

 _"Martinez. You're all secure?"_

"Yeah. Look Mindy's freaking out about the stuff they're saying about her. It's not true, that Pearce guy is a creep of epic proportions."

 _"I know. The woman from HR just dropped by when she heard what was happening. We have Mindy's full account plus the video of what happened afterwards. I'm currently pulling together the facts to make this story airtight. Ask Mindy if I can run it will you."_

"Mindy, Annie wants to know if she can run the full counter story."

"Yeah-yes of course!" Mindy nodded vigorously "Run it."

"She says yeah." Rick relayed to the blond on the other side of the line.

 _"Great!"_

Before Rick could reply anything the PR Director had hung up "She hung up on me!" Rick announced to the room.

Suddenly four different phones pings went off. Mindy, Mark, Beth and Chris all checked their pone to find that Annie had messaged them all.

 _ **Annie Montrose: I need you guys to be prepared for a press conference tomorrow at 2:30 PM CST. That's not a question, I'm telling you to gear up.**_

"What?" Beth asked "Why just the four of us? That's weird, right?"

"Mark and Mindy both have stories about them right now, I'm a doctor even if I'm no longer _his_ doctor and you were in charge of the team responsible for stopping the hack. It makes sense that she chose us."

"But why leave us out?" Vogel asked, gesturing to himself, Martinez and Lewis.

"Rick and you have families, kids to worry about, Annie probably doesn't want to drag you through the public eye again." Lewis said "As for me, I was responsible for Mark being left behind in the first place and that's all the press thinks when they see me. It wouldn't do Mark any favours to have me up there as well."

Mark sighed "This is going to be the absolute worst Press Conference of my life."

"And me and Beth will be right there besides you through the whole thing." Chris said assuringly.

Mark was _not_ assured by this titbit of information for some reason, but he knew he should be and so he smiled gratefully and remembered that Mindy would also be right there beside him through the whole thing.

"Mark, you guys have a big day tomorrow," Helena said softly "Why don't you try and get some rest?"

Lewis nodded "That's a good idea."

"Yeah okay." The rest of the gang agreed.

Vogel came in carrying pillows "Well we have 2 camp beds and 3 sleeping bags plus the sofa so it's a perfect fit."

Mark smiled at the German man as he handed everyone a pillow "Thanks for this."

"What?" Vogel looked up distracted.

"Thanks for letting us crash here...for letting us into you home."

Vogel looked almost taken aback "Of course Mark, we're a crew, we're practically family. If I _can_ help you guys, I'm going to help you guys."

"Yeah," Mark smiled down at the ground "I know. I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate it."

Vogel went back to handing out pillows as Helena set up the sleeping arrangements "You're very welcome Mark. You're very welcome."


	33. Chapter INDEX of Songs

**A/N: Every chapter is named after lyrics from a song. The ones in** ** **bold**** **are songs and/or artists that I recommend you listen to and the others are just for the sake of the lyrics.**

1) Earthquake by Little Boots

2) Car Radio by ****Twenty One Pilots (TØP)****

3) I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner

4) ** **Kids in the Dark**** by All Time Low

5) ** **Gasoline**** by ****Halsey****

6) Aha! by Imogen Heap __(There's also a version by__ _ ** _ **Pentatonix [PTX]**_**_ _ _)__

7) ** **The Ocean**** by Mike Perry and Shy Martin

8) Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

9) **Closer** by Chainsmokers and **Halsey**

10) I Took a Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner __(again)__

11) Mad World by Gary Jules __(Don't listen to the 'Tears for Fears' version)__

12) Cruel by Snakehips and ZAYN

13) ** **Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea**** by ****XYLØ****

14) Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by **XYLØ** __(again)__

15) FOOLS by Troye Sivan

16) ** **Gravity**** by ****EDEN****

17) ****XO**** by ****EDEN****

18) ****3005**** by ****Childish Gambino****

19) Arcadia by The Kite String Tangle

20) ****Freaks and Geeks**** by ****Childish Gambino****

20.5) ^A play on the song title Freaks and Geeks^

21) Pack of Wolves by Astronomyy __(No that's not a typo)__

22) Drugs by ****EDEN****

23) ** **Bills**** by LunchMoney Lewis

24) You're Tied Together With A Smile by Taylor Swift

24.5) I'm The Map by Dora The Explorer's Map

25) The Vicodin Song by Terra Naomi

26) Best Be Believing by ****AlunaGeorge****

27) ****White Noise**** by ****Disclosure**** **and** ** **AlunaGeorge****

28) ****Lightning**** by Little Mix

29) Paparazzi by Lady Gaga

30) **Ride** by ****Twenty One Pilots****

31) Safe and Sound- The Hunger Games Soundtrack by Taylor Swift

32) **Irresistible** by **Fall Out Boy (FOB)**

33) **Bambi** by **Jidenna**

34) Lost and Found by **Will Smith**

 **...**

 _ _35) **To Be Written**__

 **Hey guys! To those who like the Martian you should hop on the Martian Wikia, it's actually pretty cool and I'm on it pretty often under _Dora9922_ so maybe we could chat over there, I'm actually an admin on the wiki. It would be _fuuun_! We could talk about The Martian, the differences between the book and the movie, how the actors portrayed the characters, fanfics, whatever you want! Hopefully I'll see you there!**

 **Here's the link:  
wiki/The_Martian_Wikia**


	34. 32) Too Many Sharks, Not Enough Blood

**Too Many Sharks, Not Enough Blood In The Waves**

 **Irresistible by Fall Out Boy**

As the crew + Mindy slept Annie had circulated the true story of what had happened to Mindy. She had teams of people working on the best ways to make sure that mark seemed sympathetic, she knew if the press smelt blood they'd tear him apart like sharks and they'd never get the chance to redeem him, he'd always be known as the druggie astronaut, the NASA screw up that just kept on screwing NASA. She couldn't allow that to happen to Mark, not just because it was her job to make sure it didn't, but because Mark Watney was her friend and she'd be damned if every American man and woman didn't know what a great guy he had been and still is.

She'd sent Donnie back to pick them up that morning and they'd all come along this time including Vogel, that was good, they showed a united front, showed they were still close, that tended to get the Watney fans excited. Unfortunately there was no hiding ushering them into the NASA building but at least the press kept their distance, circling hungrily as they waited for their prey to get into a compromising position during the press conference. She almost sneered directly into FOX's camera but managed to control her face so that she gave out an air of superiority rather then absolute disgust for the sharks trying to pick the bones of this 'story' clean.

"Okay Mark," she said once they were inside and walking towards the press room "is there anything you're not comfortable talking about? And I know you don't want to talk about any of it, but if it seems like you've got something to hide the press won't care what you've revealed because there's something you won't say."

"Well what can they ask me?"

"What are you're panic attacks about, triggers and how often; feelings about Mindy, your parents, that thing... that thing about the crew; your addiction-"

"Wait what thing did I say about the crew?" Mark asked because she was being extremely vague.

"You know..."

"I talk about the crew all the time, you're gonna have to be more specific than 'you know...'."

She sighed "That thing you said about them _being there_."

For a moment Mark's face remained a blank slate of ignorance before it suddenly dawned on him what exactly she was talking about "Oh! Oh- that! That...hmmm."

Rick asked "I think I speak for all of us when I ask... what did you say about us?"

Mark sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets, suddenly becoming very interested in the ground, "I said that it felt weird sometimes around you guys because you guys were _there_ and you you left me on Mars." He shot up "And you guys came back for me which I will always be eternally grateful for but it's just weird... you know."

Annie prompted "And that's why..."

"And that's one of the reasons I hang out with Mindy so much. I met her when I got back home."

The crew didn't know how they were supposed to reply. Chris kept running the statement through his head, wondering if maybe they were the reasons he didn't seem to be recovering mentally. What if Chris was the reason Mark was a drug addict? I mean it was already his fault for pronouncing him dead on Mars but would it be doubly his fault simply because he tried to help his friend?

"Guys? You know I love hanging out with you, right? You guys are still my best friends, my family. That's what crew is!" Mark exclaimed, trying to get some conversation going again. He didn't like it when it was silent, when there were people all around him and no one made a sound, it reminded him of when he's curl up in the dirt of The Hab, close his eyes and pretend he could hear the crew, moving around him. He'd pretend Beth was jogging on the machine, Chris lifting weights and the two would send each other coy looks they thought no one else had noticed, and Rick and Lewis would be checking The Hab sighing to themselves about broken airlocks and wondering what possessed Mark to fill The Hab with soil, Vogel would simply stand over him eating some space sausages and being silent the way only a stoic German could be. He opened his eyes and panicked, how long had he been out? No one seemed to have even moved, had he thought all of that in the time it took to blink? No one commented on it, but then again no one was commenting at all.

Annie sighed "We don't have time for this, please don't be like this on camera. And Mark you still haven't answered my question."

"Um... I'd appreciate it if they kept my parents out of things." Mark answered.

"Got it, parents. Okay I'm going to go inform the sharks, you guys go ahead to the Press Room, my assistant should be there to direct you."

They all peeled off down the corridor, awkwardly silent as they made their way towards the Conference Room. They were greeted by the brunette intern that Mark recognised as Chelsea.

Irene Siobhan Shields was already sitting at the front on the raised platform drinking some water and getting talked to by a NASA lawyer and Dan, another guy who worked for Annie.

Chelsea directed them to their seats placing them from left to right as Beth, Chris, Shields, Mark, Mindy and a space for Annie.

"How you holding up Watney?"

"Pretty good, all things considering." He answered.

"I'm sorry about this. I can't help but feel this was my fault."

Mark opened his mouth to protest but Beth beat him to the chase "If anything, it's my fault. My one job is to keep hackers out and somehow they got in, they slipped right passed my defences and I didn't even know it."

Mark turned to protest against Beth but he was once again interrupted, this time by Chris "It's neither of your faults. It's the hackers'/hacker's fault."

"Did you just say Hackers/hackers?" Vogel asked from a front row seat in the empty crowd, wondering why Chris had repeated a word.

"No one is plural possessive and the other singular possessive."

"What?" Asked Mark, completely lost.

"H-A-C-K-E-R-S-' slash H-A-C-K-E-R- ' -S." Chris spelled it out.

Irene raised an eyebrow "Wow."

"Yep." Mark agreed.

"What?!" Beck said mock-offended.

Annie swept in like a hurricane "Okay, everyone's ready for this? I'm opening the flood gates in one minute!"

"Oh my God!" Mindy suddenly exclaimed "I can't do this! I'm not built for TV! I worked the grave yard shift in Sat Com for a reason!"

"Mindy, you'll be fine." Irene said calmly "You're braver than you think, trust me."

Annie sighed "Please don't tell me you're going to have a nervous breakdown. 'Cos if you are, just do it off the stage please."

"No-no, I'm good. Sorry about that. I'm ready."

Annie smiled "Well be prepared to put some blood in the water because I'm opening the flood gates and letting in the sharks."

Mark nodded "Release the hounds."


	35. 33) Don't Get Too Near, There's Lions

**Don't Get Too Near For There's Lions, Beware!**

 **Bambi by Jidenna**

 **A/N:**

 ****Sheeple**

 _ **noun**_

 **People compared to sheep in being docile, foolish, or easily led.**

 **People who, like sheep, follow without using their own thoughts or taking the initiative.**

 **Example 'Apparently Sat Com is filled with sheeple.'**

 **Synonyms: conventionalist,** **traditionalist** **, orthodox person,** **conservative** **,** **bourgeois** **,** **stickler** **, f** **ormalist** **,** **diehard** **, reactionary** **,** **groveller, puppet** **;** _ **informal yes-man**_

CNN, Fox News, New York Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Sky News, BBC News, The Herald, The Sun, The Daily Planet, Gotham Gazette, Central City Picture News, Catco World Wide Media, and a few other news agencies that no one cared about, entered the room.

Annie addressed them as they filed into their seats "Thank you all for coming and welcome to this press conference. I'm sure many of you have heard if not reported on the story that Mr Pearce Kennedy has been toting out for the press, I can assure you now that it is not true. I would like to split this conference up into sections so for this first part could any and all questions be in reference to this story. Other questions on other matters will be answered later on. Thank you, the floor is yours."

Hands went flying up immediately and a CNN woman was chosen "Miss Park, what do you say to Mr Kennedy's accusations that you lied about him raping you."

"Okay first off, I never said he raped me, I said he sexually assaulted me. And I'm not lying. My superior asked me to go down to the storage cupboard to grab some staples and while I was in there Pearce ambushed me and tried to stick his hand down my trousers."

A man from the New York Times stood up "Why would Mr Kennedy try to assault you in this way?"

"He is what Dr Shields calls and adult bully. See, he's constantly hassling the other SatCom workers doing really juvenile stuff like spitting in someone's coffee or purposely pushing into them, just a few days prior to... the incident... he had pushed over my friend Rachel and knocked all her stuff onto the ground and I made a big show about him apologising to her. He told me that he was putting me back in my place and that that's what happens to woman who try to usurp him."

Sky News stood up "Dr Shields, could you define what an adult bully is and explain how you concluded that Mr Kennedy was one?"

"I can. An Adult Bully can sometimes be like a regular bully, name calling, beating people up, making people scared but it can also be someone who uses their power in the workplace over someone. Say if your boss purposely stops you from getting a promotion just because they don't like you, or if a co-worker tried to sabotage your work. And believe it or not adult bullying is a real thing and it affects people, sometimes, like this time, it turns into assault." She took a deep breath "As for Mr Kennedy, I was in the room when Mindy tried to get him to apologise, I had to step in to back her up because apparently Sat Com is filled with spineless sheeple," Mindy shot her a look reminding her that she did work with those spineless **sheeple "Of course as soon as he left they applauded us but no one could find it in themselves to stand up to him themselves or even back up Mindy when she was doing it for them."

Iris West from CC Picture News stood up next "How did you extract yourself from the situation and what did you do afterwards."

"I-I, well, when I went into the supply room I had dropped some stuff so I was on the floor picking it up, Pearce entered behind me and locked the door. I was of course immediately on edge because someone who hated me and had told me that they were going to get back at me had just entered a small-ish space alone with me and locked the door. He slapped me across the face and then yanked me to my feet- and then- and then he- he um pushed me up against the wall and started kissing me so then I kneed him in the balls and made a break for the door. Of course like an idiot I forgot it was locked and so he managed to pin me up against the door before I could unlock it. Then he-" Her voice cracked and she winced embarrassed.

"You okay?" Mark asked her off mic.

"Yeah, fine." She whispered back before continuing with her story "Then he forced his hand into my underwear, and put a hand over my mouth. I bit his hand, shoved him away and unlocked the door and managed to get out."

"Where did you go after that?" Iris asked "Human Resources?"

""Well I did go to HR but not immediately after." Mindy answered.

FOX news guy stood up "So what did you do after you escaped but before HR?"

"I was sort of in shock , nothing like that had ever happened to me before so I just started walking and when I came back to myself I was outside Mark's office. Then Mark took me to HR, the HR lady took my statement, reviewed the tapes and he was gone within the hour."

"You have security footage of all this? Can you release it to the media?" The FOX man asked hopefully.

"Um well the supply closet doesn't have a camera but the corridor does, as does Sat Com. As for releasing it to the press...?" She looked at Annie.

Annie was having a long distance conversation with a lawyer that stood to the side "Annie turned to the crowd, no promises but that should be possible."

Lois Lane stood up "Is what Pearce said about you punching him true?"

Mark winced "That is true, yeah. I'll admit not the best way to handle a situation, but if you heard what he said you would have punched him too."

"Well what did he say?" She asked.

"He called Mindy a biiii- hang on can I swear on this? Well anyway, he called her a bitch, then tried to goad me into punching him which I wasn't antagonised by at first. He said I thought I was a big man because I was on TV or whatever, I said I was bigger than the man who bullied his colleagues, he said something along the lines of he wasn't bullying her and she loved it. And it was that last comment that got me, when he said that she loved it, as if she was supposed to enjoy being touched non-consensually. That is why I punched him."

"Would you say he used your anger issues to antagonise you?" The Blond from Catco World wide media asked .

"What? I don't have anger issues!"

"Some would say punching a TV screen-"

Annie cut her off "Ms Danvers, do I have to remind you that this part of the conference is about the Pearce and Mindy incident?"

"My apologise, I will save my questions for later." She said sourly.

"Thank you." Annie nodded at her as the other blond sat down "Any more questions on this topic?"

One solitary hand went up, Annie recognised the man from the BBC and her thoughts where confirmed when she heard his British accent "What do you have to say to Mr Kennedy's accusations that Mindy and Mark are dating."

Mark too the question "I'll tell you what I told Kate Wilson, Mindy and I aren't dating."

Mindy added "Believe it or not, two single people of opposite genders can just be friends."

Annie looked around checking to see if anyone had any more questions "Okay then we will move on to the story I'm sure you all actually came here for. Mark Watney and his medical records. Before we take questions I would like Beth Johanssen to explain the hacking situation."

"For approximately 3 hours all the NASA's computers and wifi was down, no one could even get 10G or reception. They managed to get passed the firewall protecting the lower level stuff like the cafeteria menu for the week and managed to get through the proxy wall and the several firewalls set up to keep people out of out spacecraft plans, none of this information has surfaced on the internet and from what we can tell Mark was the only thing they were targeting. They then got past the several more firewalls we have set up to protect personnel data and then they managed to get into Dr Shields triple encrypted computer network and successfully copy all of Mark's health files onto the internet. Our computer and security department are working with the authorities to catch those responsible and make no mistake, we _emwill/em_ catch them."

An African-American woman from the New York Times rose to her feet "Mr Watney, do you have a Vicodin addiction?"

"Yes."

"Care to expand?"

Mark had to hold himself back from responding with _'Care to ask some better questions?'_ and instead responded with "Well there's no doctors on Mars and I hurt my back hauling rocks around and my leg when the rover flipped so I just took some Vicodin and hoped it would be okay. Then I broke some ribs in space which took longer to heal than usual because I was malnourished so yeah more Vicodin. Vicodin, whilst legal, _is_ an addictive substance and after taking it for so long I guess I became kind of... reliant on it."

She sat down, pleased with the answer she had been given, she already knew what her piece would be about, it would be a heartbreaking story of how the astronaut who had been alone on Mars for so long had only managed to stay sane by taking the edge off with Vicodin.

Vicki Vale stood up, taller than most in her 7 inch heels, "Mr Watney, how would you say the-" he mic cut out. She frowned and looked over at Annie, who in turn was frowning at the tech guys as they ran around backstage trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, or at least get another mic online so they could continue. But then the lights turned off too, which had everyone coming to a grinding halt as they couldn't see.

The lights flickered on, dimmer then they had been before probably the backup generator kicking in, this wasn't an accident, someone had planned it. Beth's eyes widened as she looked over at the monitors that the sound crew were looking at "Oh my God!" her eyes widened, and then narrowed as if to say _'challenge accepted'_ "You're not getting away with this again."

"What?" Chris asked as she stood up and towards the computer.

"It's them again. They're trying to threaten us, show us that they can get into our systems any place, any time, no matter what."

"So what are we gonna do?" Chris asked, brow furrowed in worry.

"I'll show them what we're gonna do." and the started typing furiously, making new code and also bringing up pieces of code she had made previously. She didn't know when these guys were going to strike next so for all she knew, this attack might be her last chance in finding them, they hadn't left a trace last time, but since then Beth and her team had wised up and she wasn't letting them get away with hacking NASA for a second time.

Everyone watched entranced as the screen was filled with line upon line of code, all green text set very dramatically to a black background as if they were in The Matrix.

And then the screen went blank.


	36. 34) Way Down We Go

**Way Down We Go**

 **Way Down We Go by Kaleo (AKA the Logan trailer song)**

"What's going on?" Mark asked, staring wide eyed at the blank screen.

"I think this is good." Beth replied, her full focus on her task.

"This really doesn't seem good." Mindy said, forehead crinkled in worry and anticipation.

The lights in the room came back at full power, the back up generator turning off as the main power come back online. Then the screen showed a single string of numbers. Beth smiled "Oh trust me this is good." She turned to Annie "get the FBI on the line, we got an address."

Beth leaned back cracking her knuckles as she did so, not only had she found them but she had copied all their work onto a different server and then infected their screens with a nasty virus so that they would freeze until it was undone by her. That would teach them to mess with her friend.

 _"And in recent news the group responsible for hacking NASA and releasing Mark Watney's logs and medical records have been arrested by the FBI. It seems the group was felled by their own hubris, thinking they could hack NASA's press conference and getting caught in the act by Ares 3 astronaut and Assistant Head of Cyber Security of NASA, Beth Johanssen. From the information given to us by the FBI it seems that they go by the name "Veritas" which is the Roman goddess of Truth and have been linked to many other hacks including the Apple hack, which revealed the plans for the next Iphone; the Sony hack last year; and the attempted hack on The White House just last month. More on this story as information becomes available. Now for the weather with..."_

Mark smiled at the TV as he packed his life back into boxes with Martinez' help. He knew Mindy was doing the same next door. Unfortunately, even though the culprits had been caught that didn't change the fact that his address was known by the Press and they both needed to move ASAP, their apartments were burnt.

"Hey Mark, this isn't yours is it?" Martinez asked a grin plastered on his face as he held up a pink NASA shirt he'd found in between the couch cushions.

"Oh no, that's Mindy's."

"Oh I already guessed it was Mindy's. That wasn't a good question, a good question is _'What's Mindy doing taking off her shirt in your apartment?'_ "

Mark stopped packing and turned to his friend "Oh come on Rick, it's not like that."

"Well then what's it like? Explain it to me."

Just then Mindy walked in the apartment and saw the two men kneeling on the floor _not packing_ "Come on guys we don't have time to mess around, we need to get packed." She took in the shirt Martinez was holding "Aye! Is that my shirt? I've been looking for that, I forgot I left it here."

"Speaking of which," Martinez asked sweetly, _too_ sweetly, "why is it over here anyway?"

"My washing machine was on the fritz a while ago and it ended up turning my white NASA shirt, pink before completely giving up so I brought my stuff here to wash and then we ended up watching a movie. Where'd you find that?"

"In the sofa."

Mindy nodded, "That makes sense."

Mark asked "So what brings you here anyway?"

"Oh I was just making sure your guys were on task. I figured if Melissa isn't here _someone_ has to keep you two in check."

"Excuse you!" Mark exclaimed, mock offended.

"Is that anyway to talk to your superiors!" Rick added just as fake offended.

"This man right here is a father, he is very responsible."

"And this man right here colonised a whole planet, how's that for 'on task'."

"Okay okay don't get your diapers in a twist you big babies!" Mindy laughed. "You two are unbelievable." She surveyed how much progress they had made in packing up. "And it seems I was correct in checking on you. I've packed double the amount of boxes by myself and you should see Beth, she's like a machine."

"Yeah that girl's like Monica." Mark laughed.

"Who?" They both asked.

"From Friends. You know. Monica Geller. Sister of Ross Geller, best friend of Rachel Green, wife of Chandler Bing."

"Dude. That show is older than you!" Martinez slapped him on the back.

"Only by a month!"

"Really?" Mindy asked, sceptical.

"Friends ran from September 1994 to 2004, I was born in October of 1994 so yeah, Friends is only a month older than me."

"Why do you even know that? Actually I don't want to know; I'm going back to packing, make sure you two do the same." Mindy gave a small wave that Watney knew was definitely meant for both of them but she only looked at Mark as she exited the room. Mark told himself it was for no other reason except convenience.

"You saw that right?" Rick asked, eyebrow raised in a fake-sleezy way.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You are so blind! Did you not see Mindy totally eye-fucking yo-"

"-HEY!" Mark cut him off and promptly changed the topic of conversation "How has the Ares IV thing been going? We haven't talked about it in a while!"

Martinez rolled his eyes at the obvious subject change but decided to indulge the other astronaut "Yeah it's been good. I obviously passed the physical and mental have cleared me so far although they have a red pin in my alleged survivors guilt."

"Is it the same doctor as before?"

"Um well I actually have two, one with Dr Shields just to make sure I'm not screwed in the head over our Ares III debatable and one with Dr Gate for all the standardised tests."

"Are you gonna mess with Dr Gates again? I mean last time was pretty fun."

"I don't know man. I mean when we did it we were all gonna mess with the guy but the new crew, they're all nervous that it's going to get called off if everything isn't perfect. Plus I'm the Commander so I think I'm gonna play it straight this time."

"That makes sense. Probably for the best as well, you don't want that guy giving you a bad review as payback."

"Ha, I hope not!" Rick guffawed as he placed a bunch of Mark's electronics into a box "Oh and get this, our mission isn't actually Ares IV, it's being called Ares V because technically speaking Ares IV had to be cancelled as you used their MAV."

"So what? They're just skipping the fourth mission?"

"Well Ares V will be exactly like Ares IV, and we'll even be able to pick up that box of research you had to leave behind which is pretty cool - but yeah, they're skipping the fourth manned Mars mission."

Mark made a sound of acknowledgement, unsure how to continue the conversation.

"So when are you going back to Chicago to see your parents?"

"I honestly don't know. I mean when my last visit got cut short I said I'd come back as soon as everything cooled down but then..."

"...it just got hotter." Rick finished for him. "Well it seems now that the hackers were arrested this whole thing might _actually_ cool down. Right?"

"I don't know Rick. I mean everything's still out there. I'm still a drug-addicted, depressed, post traumatic stressed, ex-astronaut and that's the thing that made people care about me at all. I was supposed to be an American hero, a symbol of how strong America is and look at me Rick. I'm a mess."

"Mark. You are, without a doubt, the strongest person I know. Stronger than Lewis, as tough as she is; stronger than Teddy; stronger than Annie, and they're all tough as nails. Those guys are all made of steel, they bend, they break, and you can melt them back down and put them back together but they're never quite the same. You- you're made of elastic. You bounce back. And maybe you're a little stretchier but you're still you. I'm not saying this in a way that puts pressure on you to be the exact same man as you were before Mars because you're not and you shouldn't have to be; I'm saying this as your friend who sees you drowning in your sorrow and will do anything and everything he can to pull you back onto the shore. You were alone on an entire planet for more than a year, Mark, believe me when I say you're allowed to be effected by it. To be honest if you _weren't_ I'd be worried."

Mark looked at him, eyes wide like a saucer "I'm elastic huh," He gave him a watery smile "then what if I snap? What happens when I reach the point of elasticity and I don't bounce back?"

"Then I would do anything and everything to put you back together. I'm here for you Mark, the whole crew is."

Mark didn't answer for a moment and then he started hesitantly, "You know... there's something that I never told anyone. Not even Shields. When I was on Mars, in The Hab, I would hear these voices. And I always knew they weren't real because I knew I was alone, but they sounded so real, they sounded like you guys and I'd have entire conversations with them when I was in a different room, but the moment I tried to seek them out they would disappear and I'd be so desperate to get them back, to talk to anyone that I tried to give myself a concussion. Took just enough drugs to start hallucinating." He was shaking like the room was -4°C (24.8°F) and his gaze had torn itself from Rick's and was fixed on the ground by his feet.

Rick panicked for a second. He was a good friend, but he wasn't the one you went for when you had emotional problems. He was the guy who helped you when you were stranded somewhere after a date gone wrong or if you needed cheering up, he wasn't the guy you dumped your physiological problems on, he didn't know how to deal with that. He had the sudden image of some old song called 'How To Save A Life', for some reason it had been one of his mother's favourites, what if what Rick did and said right now was the thing that made Mark wake up tomorrow and decide to drive off of Fred Hartman Bridge or something equally as deadly. Rick opened his mouth to speak, they had been sitting in silence for several seconds now and after a reveal like that, that's not something you wanted, he fought down the urge to crack a joke about how they were sharing their feelings. Now was _not_ the time. "It's okay." _'God he couldn't think of anything better than_ _ **it's okay**_ _?_ '

"But it's not! Aren't you listening? I went crazy up there!"

"Mark, humans are social animals, it's normal for our minds to do that when we're alone. I know it's not really comparable but during those 10 days in isolation training I would just say all my thoughts out loud. When we got out, I forgot I couldn't do that any more and I wound up in some awkward situations because of it. It doesn't mean you're crazy. It just means your brain is doing what it's supposed to do."

Mark looked up from the floor but he didn't say anything, instead choosing to continue packing in silence.

"Watney, I know I'm not the best at this kind of stuff but... you know... if ever you just want to talk, my metaphorical door is always open."

"Thank you Rick. That means- You have no idea what-" Suddenly he was cut off by a sob and it took him a couple seconds to realise they were coming from him.

Rick looked up alarmed to find Mark crying; like actually properly, honest-to-God, tears-streaming-down-his-face crying.

"Fuck. Fuck, I don't know why I'm crying." Mark choked out as he wiped away the tears rushing down his face which were quickly replaced by new ones.

"Hey, it's okay." Rick said moving closer to him and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"This is so stupid. I'm sorry." He said even as he leaned into the touch.

"There's no need to apologise Mark."

"I know- I just- I'm sorry." Watney buried his head in the crook of Martinez' neck as sobs wracked his body. "God, this is so stupid."

Rick didn't reply. He just pulled Mark into a hug and rubbed his back softly. Suddenly Mark pulled back and Rick let go, figuring Watney would be uncomfortable about all this but rather than awkwardly trying to get back into a conversation, Mark searched frantically for something in his pocket. He pulled out a single blister pack pill case. He popped it through the thin metal foil that was keeping it fresh and went to swallow it but Rick grabbed his wrist to stop him "Hey, Mark come on, you don't need that."

The other astronaut shook him off, quite violently, enough to shock Martinez into letting go, "Yeah I do Rick because that's just how fucking pathetic I am. Some hero I turned out to be, huh." He swallowed the pill dry. "I think it's best if you leave."

"Mark-"

" **Please!** " He inhaled tiredly "Can you just go?"

Slowly Rick got up "Mark?" He tried one last time. He didn't want to leave mark right now in that state he was in but he knew Mark didn't like being treated like he was on suicide watch either. And the man wanted him to go.

"Please." Mark whispered. And as Martinez closed the door behind him he didn't hear the quite whisper, barely louder then his breath "Please don't leave me alone."


	37. 35) What The Hell I'm Supposed To Do

**What The Hell I'm Supposed To Do**

 **The Night We Met by Lord Huron**

.

Mindy sighed as she was distracted yet again from packing by a string of texts and two missed calls from Martinez "What!?" She said when she finally picked up. As she listened to the voice on the other side of the phone Mindy exclaimed "WHAT!" although it sounded less angry and more worried, a tone which had Beth looking up in her direction, trying to gage the conversation from one side of the phone. "Oh my God, he really- no I won't tell hi you told me the thing he told you in confidence might I add. No I'm not mad you told me- I just don't think he wanted me to know. Hence why he told his oldest friend and not some girl he met a couple months ago!" She paused again and listened. "Mmmhhhm. …Yeah, I understand why you did it... I think you should go back, he didn't really want you to leave, he's just in a weird place right now... Yeah I know I wasn't there and I didn't see his face but I know Mark he- no I'm not implying that you _don't_ know Mark! Martinez don't get mad at me about this! Martinez? Marti-RICK!" She threw her phone angrily at her sofa and it bounced harmlessly off the cushions, she then turned to Beth angrily "He hung up on me!"

"What happened?"

"Apparently Mark had a break down, spilled some secret he was deeply ashamed of and then asked Rick to leave. Or something like that anyway my conversation with Martinez wasn't that detailed."

"Should we go over there?" Beth asked "I mean if we do, he'll know Rick called us and then he'll get all pissy because we're treating him like he's fragile."

"Yeah, but he _is_ fragile. He's in a weird place right now. He wants help but he can't ask for help because he's ashamed he needs it and he doesn't want us to offer help because then it looks like we think he's weak or something."

"So what are we supposed to do?"

Mindy sighed "I don't know. Maybe Chris'll know?"

Beth shook her head "He's a Flight Surgeon not a psychiatrist. I think we need Dr Shields on this one."

The two woman hung up on Dr Shields happy she had the situation handled. On the other side of town, Siobhan was desperately calling Rick for the whole story. As soon as he picked up she demand answers "What the heck did you say?!"

And Rick told her what he had said.

"He asked you to leave?"

"Yeah, practically yelled at me to go."..."He'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah he'll be okay, he's tough."

"I just, I've known him for a long time and I've never seen him so... so-"

"-vulnerable?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry Rick," She said softly "He'll be okay."


	38. 36) In Between Who I Used To Be

**Somewhere In Between Who I Used To Be And Who I'll Be Tomorrow**

 **Life Of The Party by All Time Low**

.

"Astronaut, Mark Watney died on Sol 6." He read the title of a newspaper he had bought as a joke once he'd gotten back to earth. As it turned out there were a hole bunch on eBay and the whole crew had had a good laugh about that fact (especially when they'd seen one going for $300), he didn't feel like laughing now. Now he just sat there with the newspaper staring at the headline. "Astronaut Mark Watney died on Sol 6." he repeated, mulling the statement over in his head. If Mark Watney died on Sol 6 then what was he? A ghost of Mark Watney? Floating around, scarring people, sucking the joy out of those he once cared about, _still cares about._ Was he in the after life? And if so, which one? Was this hell? Was this what hell felt like? Having everything you ever wanted dangling right in front of you and never being able to grasp it? He felt numb, like he was floating (and he knew what that felt like). As a kid, learning about Greek mythology, he had always laughed at Tantalus; standing in a river with a fruit tree above his head and never being able to eat or drink; but now as he sat on the floor of his apartment with two of his friends right next door and other humans besides just himself he couldn't help but feel more alone than ever. On Mars he had begged, pleaded with God, any god at all, to let him go home, to let him see his family again, to let him hug his friends and say goodbye at least but as the days went by it seemed less and less like a miracle from a god and more like he'd made a deal with the devil and it had gone horribly wrong.

He picked up another newspaper, it had been framed by his parents and given to him whilst he was still living with them 'Mark Watney Lives'. It was a simple title, his parents had been mentioned in the article and they had received numerous copies from neighbours and concerned friends. He used to look at it and smile. A reminder that even though he was alone on Mars, people had stilled cared about him, but now he just felt empty. "This is a lie." Mark Watney didn't live. He had died on Mars on Sol 6 like everyone thought he had.

He wanted to scream, but something held him back. Instead he just tossed the framed newspaper clip as hard as he could at the wall, the wall where his TV used to hang, and let out a frustrated grunt. "God damn it." He ran his hands through his hair roughly "I'm better than this." he felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack, he reached for a pill only to realise he'd already taken it before when Martinez was there.

In a shaky panic he stumbled to the bathroom and riffled through his medicine cabinets looking for the one thing that would ease the quakes wracking his body. Plasters - no, bandages - no, hay fever meds - no, cough medicine - "YES!". He clasp the bottle to him so he wouldn't drop it in his hurry and failed a couple times to open the bottle before he remembered the child lock. After a few more agonising tries he ripped the lid of and gulped down the brown, Dextromethorphan filled liquid. By the time he had calmed down enough to think, he had already drunken too much.

His heart felt like it was going crazy in his chest, thumping so fast and so loudly he could feel it on his tongue. He tried to stand up with little success as he was overcome with dizziness. His mind was punted back to high school when they had to learn the side effects of abusing cough syrups, he had sworn he would never do it, NASA would never take him on if they had thought he had a history of drug misuse, it was a big no no.

He felt like he was going to be sick. Nausea, another symptom. He needed to get out of the bathroom, it suddenly felt too small, he couldn't breath. This felt dangerously close to a panic attack which was ironic seeing as a panic attack was what he was trying to avoid in the first place.

Think about what Doctor Shields would say. She'd probably just tell him to breath, but _he couldn't breath_ he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. It was as if the airlock had blown all over again and this time he hadn't been able to close the hole in his helmet with duct tape. This time _the air was being ripped forcefully from his lungs and his chest burned from the lack of oxygen. He could see it, the close enclosed walls of the airlock. He could hear everything from the hissing of the air being sucked out into the cold vacuum of space; to the alarm blaring from his suit, warning him of the dropping pressure. He could smell it, the coldness of the Martian atmosphere forcing it's way into him. It was cold._ He was cold. He curled up into a ball instinctively hoping to gain some warmth.

He whacked his head on the foot of the sink.

 _Sink?_

There was no sink in the airlock.

He wasn't in the airlock.

He was at home. Shivering on the floor because he had been an idiot and chugged cough syrup.

With his panic gone he was able to take in the bathroom for what it was, a bathroom.

He took a deep breath as he figured out what had been symptoms of an over dose and what had simply been him panicking.

Dizziness. He tried to stand up again. And again he failed. Check.

Feeling faint. He didn't think so at least.

Nausea. Oh yeah, he could feel the bile bubbling in his stomach. Check.

Stomach pain. Nope.

Restlessness. Hard to say seeing as he had just taken it.

Increased heart rate. He could still feel his pulse in his tongue, and now his ears too. He could never feel his ears before so Check.

Fatigue, again hard to say. Although his eyes did feel heavy.

He should call someone before he slips into a coma or something. Where was his phone? It was hard to remember but slowly he realised he had left it in the living room. He slumped to the floor and pulled himself along it, crawling like a snake as he tried not to jostle his stomach enough to puke.

He finally made it to the living room and reached for his phone when suddenly a black pair of wedges appeared in front of it. He followed the legs that the shoes belonged to up past a blue skirt suit and white blouse, past the simple silver necklace hanging around her neck and just about the split end-free blond bob that shaped her face "Sheila?" He asked confused wondering if he was hallucinating, because how did she get here before he had even called her?

"Yes."

"I really messed up."

She surveyed the area, one newspaper on the floor, the headline in full display; another laying in the shards of glass from the broken frame; Mark on the ground, craning his neck to look her in the eyes. "What happened?"

"I'm guessing Martinez told you what happened?"

"I want to hear it from you."

"I assure you whatever he said is what happened."

"You can't possibly know that."

"But I know him."

She sighed "Fine then, what happened after he left? Panic attack. I took so cough syrup to combat it which was admittedly not the best idea, I feel like crap right now and I'm not even sure you're not a hallucination right now. Then I had another panic attack and calmed myself down enough to try and go for my phone."

"You calmed yourself down?"

"Yeah."

"That's good!"

He made a sceptical face "What?"

"It's progress. With no assistance from me you managed to get yourself down from absolute panic and make rational responsible decisions."

"After I had chugged a bunch of cold medicine."

She shrugged "Sometimes we have to fall down in order to realise that we can keep getting back up."

Mark thought about that for a second. His eyes fell once again upon the Newspaper. "Yeah." And slowly, with Sheila's help, despite his dizziness, he managed to get himself back onto his feet and standing back up again.


	39. 37) I Got Power, Poison, Pain And Joy

**I Got Power, Poison, Pain And Joy Inside My DNA**

 **DNA by Kendrick Lamar**

.

Dr Shields had, rightly so, taken away his cold medicine. And any other medicine that could make him even remotely high.

In a way he was grateful for the choice being taken out of his hand but it also made him feel like if had had the choice, he wouldn't have made the right one. It made him feel weak despite Siobhan's insistence that calming himself down from a panic attack made him strong.

Mark held on to that thought like it was his life line, like it was the only thing keeping him from floating off into the vacuum of space. He needed something to ground him, he had told Siobhan as much and she agreed, in fact she let out that she was quite angry that NASA hadn't given him more to do as she'd been nagging the higher ups for quite some time.

Mark wasn't even surprised when he got a text telling him to report to Kapoor's office instead of Shields' that morning. When Siobhan wanted things done, she was as unstoppable as The Juggernaut and Annie rolled into one.

When he rocked up outside Kapoor's office, he found Annie, Siobhan and Kapoor. The way the conversation cut off when he arrived suggested they'd been talking about him which was a very unnerving feeling, it didn't help that Annie looked kind of pissed off at him (then again when was she not). "Um hi guys."

"Hi Mark." Venkat greeted politely, "Take a seat." He gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk.

"Yeah sure." He replied awkwardly as he sat down. "So..." His lack of a sentence made him regret opening his mouth in the first place.

Annie saved them from an uncomfortable silence by cutting to the chase "Mark, how would you feel about being NASA's twitter liaison?"

Mark stared at her. Annie barley let him tweet from his own account and now she was going to give him free reign of the NASA account? It dawned on him. She didn't want to, she was being forced to by Kapoor, it explained why she had looked so pissed. "I would love to."

"Okay. Mark that means no swearing, and any political stances have to be run through me first because it could affect funding and you can't shirk your duties, how the public views us also affects funding."

"I understand."

"I'm not sure you do Mark. This is important. What you tweet could very well affect jobs, missions, spacecrafts. You can't mess this up."

Mark gave her a solemn stare "I promise I will do everything in my power to be the best twitter liaison humanly possible."

"Good. You'll spend this week being briefed and trained on how to deal with certain situations and then it's all you." She handed him some files "This is the contract. Read through it, familiarise yourself with it, sign it, and get it back to me ASAP."

He took the papers and did a quick flick through the way people did when they received files to look professional as if they could take in anything from glimpsing at a bunch of letters on a page. At this speed it might as well have been ancient Greek. "I'll do that."

Annie got up and left. Annie didn't want him to have the job, because he hadn't proven himself as trustworthy to deal with the public. He would show her that she could trust him, not out of spite but because she was his friend and he wanted to earn her trust.

"Oh hang on guys," He said to Kapoor and Shields, "do I get to keep my office?" They had given him that office because it was close to Shields' own office but it was quite a distance from Annie's.

"You and me are both moving offices, to be closer to the PR division." Siobhan said. She pumped her eyebrows "I'm getting upgraded, it's bigger and I'm getting a new sofa."

"Nice." Mark replied, wondering if she was actually secretly annoyed at having to move and was too nice to tell him. "Thank you." he said "For trusting me with this."

Kapoor laughed "Yeah, well make sure I don't regret it. Now go read that contract and then get to work on shadowing the social media guys."

"Yes Sir." Mark threw him a mock-salute as he left.

He smiled, Mark thought this was gonna be good, social media was something he happened to excel at. He would use this opportunity to turn the digitalised page of the google e-book that was his life.


	40. 38) Can't Make It Home

**Can't Make It Home So Would You Take Me Home?**

 **Stayin Out All Night by Fall Out Boy ft Wiz Khalifa (Boys of Zummer Remix)**

Lifting boxes had made it apparent how unfit he had gotten since returning to Earth. He had done exercise in the beginning to get some muscle mass back but as soon as he'd hit his goal he'd relaxed and now his arms and legs ached from all the lifting and bending down he had done whilst packing up his life and moving it to a different place.

A place away from Mindy.

Mark felt her absence like a phantom limb, a dull ache somewhere in his chest that wouldn't go away. He told himself he wasn't missing _Mindy_ , he was missing _people_ because being by himself again reminded him all too much of Mars. Dr Shields didn't seem to agree with him but she didn't push it, only told him that if he felt lonely he could call her.

"I need to start working out." Mark groaned to himself as he lay on his old bed staring up at unfamiliar ceilings.

He decided to distract himself from the loneliness by doing actual work. Reading through his contract and familiarising himself with the aspects of his ordeal that were available to the public.

Mark woke up in the clothes he had been wearing yesterday, covered in NASA documents and horny as fuck. He hadn't slept with anyone since he'd left for Mars, hadn't even touched anyone intimately other than hugs from his friends and family and that didn't really count. He looked over at his alarm clock to see he had woken up too late for anything more than a quick shower, which meant it would have to be a cold shower because he didn't have time to take care of himself.

He stripped, shivering as the cold air hit his skin and steadied himself as he anticipated the cold jet of water about to hit him.

And by the time he hopped out he was no longer standing to so to speak **[Macbeth reference LOL who got this?]**. He certainly wouldn't be mentioning _this_ in today's session with Siobhan.

He got dressed hurriedly and rushed out of the door grabbing his phone, keys and wallet as he did so.

The drive to NASA was boring without Mindy, and again reminded him of his rover trip across Mars the crawling traffic kept him grounded on earth although his knuckles were unusually white on the steering wheel.

"So Mark how are we feeling today?"

"Better than yesterday morning, read through my contract seems okay, I doubt they'd screw me over after everything but I'm gonna get my dad's lawyer to read it through as well."

"Well better to be safe than sorry, but how are you actually feeling?"

"My new apartment feels really empty without Mindy next to me and being in the car alone reminds me of Mars and I feel home sick for Rover 2. But I feel fine, like I'm not about to relapse, I just need to get used to this I guess."

"Well it's good that you're not going to relapse but our goal is to make you even better than that."

They continued chatting until the end of his session "Good luck at your new job."

He laughed "I haven't signed the contract yet!"

"Well don't take too long or Annie will get antsy."

"Don't I know it." He said closing the door behind him and bumping straight into his new trainer and the guys whose job he's taking. He really hoped there wouldn't be any bad blood between them, he'd have to figure out a low key way to ask about his departure.

"If someone complains about how much money NASA gets you can choose from any of these replies. Obviously spice them up a bit so no one knows we have a set list of things we can say and try to rotate them so it's not too obvious but pretty much look at the list choose one, reply." Jeff said sternly.

"Got it." Replied Mark.

"If someone mentions you here's a file of things we are allowed to mention. Obviously you know more about you than what we are allowed to mention so read this and make sure you know it like the back of your hand."

"Will do."

"You will have an underling whose job is to get you a list of special occasions like the launch of a thing or a class of astronauts graduation or something. You tweet that and tag them or you retweet them saying it themselves."

"Special occasion tweets, got it."

"If someone asks you a science question, answer if you can but if you can't ignore it it's not that important."

"Mmmmh."

"If a politician or celebrity tweets us, reply something funny. I won't patronise you, you're a pretty funny guy just no jokes about their scandals, race or gender please."

"No offensive jokes, fair enough."

"Along the same vain, no swearing, no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, before you agree with anyone check their not an account that support any of the bad things I just mentioned because if you do the headlines will read 'NASA agrees with racist twitter user'."

"Yeah I can do that."

"That's all I have for you right now. Let's get to work and see what situations arise, if you have any questions ask 'em while I'm still here but when I'm gone you can talk to Tony, he used to have this position so he knows what's up."

"Can I ask why you're going?" Mark asked.

"I got a job as SpaceX's head of promotion and media"

"No way! That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it is." Smiled Jeff "But this was a pretty good job, and the people here are the best. I'm gonna miss them. Now stop trying to distract me and work."

The two got to tweeting, Mark sometimes coming across tweets that he had no idea how to deal with and Jeff coaching him through the basic formulas of dealing with certain tweets.

At lunch the two took a break "That wasn't too bad." Mark said.

"Some people find it stressful but seeing as you're an astronaut you probably don't get stressed a lot."

"More so since I've been back."

Jeff scoffed "I can imagine with the paps stalking you."

He left work at 8 PM with a bunch of PR people who had invited him to a bar as a sort of initiation. He hadn't been to a bar since he'd been back, he'd never been much of a bar man so it had never occurred to him to miss them but when he walked into an Irish bar two blocks from NASA and took in the dart board and the pool table and the TV showing a football game (American football) he realised that he had.

Mark, Jeff, Cindy and Xander sat at the counter and ordered a round of shots. "Mark, some one told me you could hold your liquor like nobody's business." Xander said as he held up his shot glass.

"In the old days sure, but I'll certainly try to live up to the rumours!"

They cheered and all skulled their shots in one giant gulp. Cindy made a face as the liquid hit the back of her throat.

They drank 6 more shots over 2 hours before any of their behaviour was noticeably different. Cindy was the first being smaller then her male drinking companions, Jeff called her a taxi but when he went to tell him the address the driver seemed like a total creepazoid so he texted Xander he'd go with her to make sure she got home alright.

That just left Xander and Mark alone at the bar. Xander was a nice guy, he had funny stories and he seemed to like Mark's as well but they didn't know each other so eventually it got a bit awkward and Xander made an excuse to head home saying something about work tomorrow.

Mark remained at the bar, switching from vodka shots to just sipping some whiskey and maybe that was his first mistake. A woman, a very _hot_ woman approached him and smiled. Mark took in her wavy blond hair, her flirtatious smile and her little red dress that showed off almost _too_ much cleavage and how she held out her hand for him to shake "The name's Brooke Lively."

He took her hand "I'm Mark, nice to meet you." It took all his will power not to look at her boobs, he doubted neither Brooke nor Annie would appreciate it when someone snapped a picture of that.

She laughed because of course she already knew who he was. She sat down next to him and ordered what he was having. Mark didn't leave, that was his second mistake.

Mark's not really sure how he ended up at her house pressing her against the wall, kissing her, running his hands all over her body but in hindsight it was most definitely his third mistake. He was Mark freaking Watney, he couldn't do casual hookups without it being front page news but he was too wrapped up in the moment to think about what would happen later. He'd survived freaking Mars, he deserved this!

She manoeuvred them towards her bedroom and they fell ungracefully onto her bed, the kissing didn't let up until she went to remove his shirt. She pulled it over his head and threw it onto the floor and _'WOWZA this is extremely hot!'_

She ran her hands up and down his body, lightly scratched lines onto his back with her nails, undoing his belt and it felt so good (especially after so long) that all Mark could do to not explode right there and then was kiss her harder. When she started putting her hands down his trousers is when the real trouble started. When he'd first gotten back doctors had warned him about 'touch sensitivity' but it had never been a problem until now. He had hugged his friends and shaken strangers hands but being pressed up to Brooke like this, skin to skin, it was different. It was intimate. It was too much and it felt like Mark was burning. Everywhere she touched felt like it was on fire and not in a good way. He pulled back "Wait!"

"What's wrong?" She asked worried.

"I can't do this!"

"What a one night stand?"

"No, I mean yes but look I'm really sorry but I have to go."

"Hold on! You can't just leave me like this!" She said angrily.

He picked up his shirt from the floor and pulled it back over his head as he left, "I'm really sorry."

"Yeah you better be damn sorry!" Leaving her angry was his fourth and greatest mistake.

Mark rolled into work only to be greeted by Annie holding a newspaper from The Guardian, she had an intern behind her holding several other newspapers and looking extremely worried for Mark. _'Oh no, this wasn't good.'_ "Heeeeeey Annie." he said cautiously, sensing her anger.

She held up the newspaper and the front page was a picture of him and Brooke kissing heatedly in front of her house taken from a private security camera from across the street. Meaning she had gone to her neighbour from across the road and asked them for footage from their camera. "Oh. My. God."

"Brooke Lively? Really Mark, I thought you were hanging out with Xander and Cindy!"

"And Jeff, yeah I was. But you know I was the last one to leave and she just came up to me... next thing I know I'm at her house."

"Is this accurate? This article? Did you _'pull away suddenly, and then rush out throwing meaningless apologies [her] way'_?"

He paused to mull over the statement "Yeah... that's accurate." He huffed "Oh God this is the worst!"

"Your new job status is not public knowledge which means anyone tweeted the NASA account about this doesn't know it's you and it will remain that way."

"Wait, you're letting me continue?"

"You were off the job. Although this better not happen again." She scolded but then paused leaning in so as not to be overheard by the intern "I know you're probably lonely and it's hard to find people who want to be with you for you and not because you're famous but this can't happen again Mark."

"I know, I'm sorry, it won't."

She nodded and leaned back "Good luck in the press room, I suspect Xander wants to know how you picked up a chick so soon after he left. Oh, and Shields wants to see you."

Mark sighed "Off to Shields I go then."


	41. 39) Brighter Than Mine

**I Hope All Your Nights Are Brighter Than Mine**

 **Dear Bruce by Trav B Ryan (Comix Tape Vol 1 and Bat Family EP)**

When Mindy woke up that morning she did not expect her phone to be blowing up and her name to have mentions in the news.

Everyone from her current friends to old friends from highschool had found some way to contact her and yell _'I thought you and Mark were together!?'_

She didn't know why _ANYONE_ thought that when both her and Mark had explicitly stated tat they weren't but some people just want to believe what they want. Looking at the video of Mark and some blonde woman passionately making out as they entered her house was probably enough to disillusion anyone of the notion that they were together.

She read a few internet articles which mostly said the same thing with the same quotes from some woman called 'Brooke Lively' she had sold the pictures and her quote to the press and then uploaded them to the internet.

What a bitch.

Mindy rolled into work a whole hour early to try an avoid the flurry of her co-workers who usually came in just one time, gossiping about whatever was in the news that day. As today's news was Mark and it was a well documented fact that they were good friends, she decided she actually wanted to get some work done before they ambushed her with questions and speculation on their relationship status (although maybe now they would finally believe her when she says she's not dating him).

Her boss, Joel Matthew, was already there and looked a little surprised to see her so early "Mindy! What are you doing here so early?"

"You know everyone's going to be asking me about Mark today, I want to get some work done before they all come in. I need to stay focussed on Olympus Mons, just one missed day could disrupt everything."

"Well I'm glad you're here because I've got a big announcement to make and you're sort of at the forefront of it. NASA is putting up two new satellites which means SatCom is increasing in size, and with an increase in size comes job shuffles."

"What do you mean?" Mindy asked confused.

"Well I wasn't going to tell you until lunch but since you're here I might as well! You're up for a promotion!"

Mindy froze and looked at him "No way."

"Yes way! Higher pay; your own office, albeit glass and completely see-through; and no chances of the graveyard shift!"

"My own office?! Really?!" Mindy exclaimed excitedly.

"Yep! Because of the new people we're going to have to split everyone up into different groups, each of which oversee a different thing and each team needs a team leader which is where the promotions come in."

"So I'd be like a junior manager of SatCom?"

"Yeah, pretty much. All you have to do is say yes." He paused "And sign a contract."

"Are you kidding? YES! Let me read it!"

"Hang on they're all in my office. Why don't you come round at lunch and you can see who the other team leaders will be."

"I'll do that. Thank you Sir, it's an honour."

"Mindy, you deserve it. You do good work here, always have."

Mindy went back to her desk beaming to herself, a promotion, it was almost too good to be true, the hour of work flew by in her excitement. She couldn't wait to tell-

"Mark Watney!" Someone said as they walked passed.

Mindy looked up from her work to find Samantha Painter holding The New York Times and showing Jessica Mortimer the headline.

Jessica looked scandalised "Who knew NASA's golden boy was such a hoe!"

They both fell about giggling until they saw Mindy's gaze on them. They stopped and the room plunged into an awkward silence that comes from bad talking someone's friend right in front of them. Jessica cleared her throat once and then decided to head to her desk and get to work avoiding her eyes as she did so.

Rachel arrived a little while later holding two cups of coffee. As she passed Mindy she handed her one "Here Mindy, I got you a pumpkin spice latte."

"No way! Rachel you're the best, thank you."

"No problem, I figured you'd need a pick-me-up after I saw the news this morning."

"Yes." Mindy nodded awkwardly as the image of Mark pressing up against the blonde filled her head "Well, what are you gonna do?" She shrugged helplessly.

"Do you think Annie's going to call another press conference?"

Mindy shook her head "I don't think so. If she called a press conference because of what or who Mark does in his own personal time it would set bad precedent with the press, plus it really is none of their business."

"Yeah, I don't think that lady should have shared that video."

"It's not even that she shared it, she went out of her way to go to her neighbour and get the tapes. That's- that's-"

"-Messed up?" Rachel finished for her.

"Yeah. Exactly, it is."

"Well there's nothing we can do right now so how about you concentrate on Olympus Mons and I'll concentrate on the Ares IV site."

Mindy looked up suddenly "You're on the Ares IV site?"

"Yep! I got assigned it last night by the boss man, something about a structure shuffle? I'm pretty stoked through, it's a sweet gig. I'll be looking at the notes you made when you had to follow Mark around and check on Ares IV so they better be good."

She laughed "Congratulations! And keep an eye out for the box of samples Mark left-" an alert on her screen made her pause "What the hell?!" She exclaimed loudly causing the few other people in the room to look over.

"What is it?" Rachel asked looking at the screen but not knowing what to look for.

"The temperature around Olympus Mons are a whole degree hotter than they were last week."

Rachel frowned "What does that mean? Does that mean an eruption?"

"I don't know. All I know is the temperature literally hasn't changed since we started monitoring it and suddenly it's a whole degree hotter?! If it's hotter that might mean CO2 and H2O has been released from the volcano which heats up earth and I know Mars isn't like Earth but it's all the information I have to go off."

Joel came over "I'm sorry what did you say about Olympus Mons?"

"It's hotter Joel! I need more satellite time ASAP. And Rachel, can you get Ian Carmichael on the phone? He's a volcanoligist"

"Absolutely." Rachel said rushing off.

"I'll get you your satellite time." Joel promised rushing off to make a call in his office.

Mindy sat back at her station, pouring all her concentration on the screen as she pulled up a chart that had been monitoring the steady rise in temperature over the past week, it had been so minute until now that the system hadn't even thought to notify her and yet suddenly it had spiked by a whole degree Celsius.

 **(Because they're scientist they use REAL temperature suck it USA, Celsius for the win!)**

Rachel returned and handed her the phone.

"Ian!" Mindy said excitedly into the phone "You're never going to believe this! Olympus Mons' temperature is up by a whole degree Celsius."

There was a pause on the other end "A temperature rise?"

"Yeah! That mean more CO2 and H2O right? In the stratosphere?"

"On Earth it does, yeah. We've never witness an eruption on Mars. Oh my God Mindy, this could be it."

"This could be it! We might actually get to see it erupt in our lifetimes!" Mindy was grinning as she spoke into the phone, she conveyed the message to Rachel and Joel who were standing, listening to her end of the conversation. "Okay look, I should be getting some extra satellite time to really figure out what's going on but I would appreciate it if you and a few of your colleagues could come to Houston."

"Absolutely, we all have vacation days we haven't taken even if our bosses said no, so you couldn't stop us if we tried! I'll talk to them, tell them the great news and call you when with a date and approx time on when we'll be at NASA."

"Thank you Ian."

"No thank YOU Mindy. This is amazing!"

They both hung up and Mindy squealed. "He thinks it's a big deal too, he's getting his volcano buddies to Houston to check out this info so we can hash out a conclusion and a statement."

"That's great!" Joel said "I'll sign off on those guys but it seems you've got this all under control."

Mindy couldn't help it, even with the shadow of Mark and his hook up looming over her, this was the best day of her life.


	42. 40) We Are WILD We R Like Young Volcanos

**A/N: Sorry I took so long to update guys. I was originally planning on going a completely different direction with this chapter, I'd almost finished writing it but when I read over it I hated it so much and I couldn't think how I would continue it because there was a massive time skip and it would make no sense to pick up all of these story lines like 2 weeks later and just pretend nothing happened in between so I had to rewrite it and plan ahead for future chaps and then I got writers block. It was a whole thing.**

 **We Are Like Young Volcanoes**

 **Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy**

This was the worst day of Mindy's life.

When she had heard about the promotion and Olympus Mons she had completely forgotten that meant more meetings with more middle management guys. It's not like she could talk to the big bosses about this even if they were her friends and she couldn't just let Joel do it because these were her things. Leading a team meant reporting to their superiors and figuring out if a space volcano is erupting requires extra resources, which requires presenting to boards of committees and stuffy old men. She could do that, public school had prepared her for a life of talking to people who weren't really listening that was her life story at this point, even her own mother seemed to tune out when she brought up NASA. What Mindy wasn't prepared for was talking on live television in front of thousands of people.

Since Mark's arrival back on Earth, the Watney Report had become less 'Mark Watney' and more 'General NASA stuff' they had seen a drop in their ratings but enough people still watched it that CNN couldn't justify cancelling it (and Kate Wilson was very convincing when she wanted to be). So when Annie had come to her with "Kate's gotten word that you're looking into Olympus Mons, she wants you on the show." Mindy started panicking.

Firstly TV, which is scary all in itself; but secondly the show was about Mark, which means anyone who was anyone or at least anyone watching would know her as 'that girl who Mark should be with', Kate was sure to ask her about it and she wasn't sure what she would say. Since being 'exposed' her and Mark hadn't had a whole lot of conversations, something Mindy had been meaning to rectify but had never gotten round to and she was pretty sure it had everything to do with the girl Mark had been kissing.

She wasn't sure if she was avoiding him because she was jealous and sad and lonely or whether he was avoiding her, or maybe he just didn't care enough about her to reach out. She had only ever been such great friends with him because she didn't remind him of Mars, maybe he'd found himself new friends over in PR and he didn't need her anymore. Maybe they were only friends because they lived next to each other, she had doxed herself really, she hadn't needed to leave her apartment whilst the paparazzi were there but her friend was in trouble, he was hurting and she needed to be there for him.

She wondered if Mark was hurting now.

She had been sat at her computer writing and rewriting her small slideshow detailing the facts about Olympus Mons that they knew for sure, pronouncing and re-pronouncing every difficult word and name of anything and anyone to do with the project much to the chagrin of her work neighbours. With so many people involved she didn't understand how SHE had become the face of it. She suspected Annie had something to do with it. What with her being an already familiar face to some viewers.

She stood up suddenly, shocking her work neighbour but he seemed only too happy when she started to leave. Because she'd gotten there an hour early, she could either leave an hour early or take a longer lunch so she would just count this as part of her break.

She made her way down to where she knew Mark was working and entered cautiously only then realising she had no idea where exactly he'd be. She figured it out pretty quick by following the sound of people laughing and soon came to a respectably sized crowd gathered around their resident American Hero fallen from grace who was inanimatedly telling a story. She recognised it as one of his funnier stories about Rick and smiled when he got to the part about him being dowsed in paint. He had told her that story when they'd first driven to work together and she had laughed so hard she could barely drive straight. Mindy wondered if this was just his go-to breaking the ice story, because it seemed to work.

When he reached the end of the story, even Mindy was laughing despite having already heard it and everyone else was chuckling raucously. None of them seemed to be working which was very odd because from what she could tell they were always working, social media was a constant thing, it was always being updated and changed. When Mark caught her eye, she gestured for them to step outside for a second and he excused himself from the group and followed her outside the space.

"Mindy. Hi." He said, almost awkwardly. It was weird, they'd never been awkward.

"Hey Mark," she said casually attempting to get the care-free nature back into their relationship "so what was up with..." she gestured back at the door hoping he'd get the message.

"Our breaks just started."

"Oh. Okay. Um... I... we haven't really spoken much since... we moved."

"Yeah."

"I think we should go out and catch up. You know, tell me about the new job. Are you free after work?"

"I..." Mark looked like he was going to decline and Mindy didn't know what she'd say if he did "I'd like that."

"Really? You don't have to."

"I know," he smiled at her "I want to."

Mindy smiled back "Great, I'll swing by here after my shift ends?"

"Hopefully I'll get out on time."

"If you don't, I can always do some overtime. Spend some time observing Olympus Mons."

"Oh yeah I heard it heated up?"

"By 1 degree C. I freaked out, I was so excited."

"It's exciting! I mean it hasn't changed temperature in decades and now a whole degree? Do you know if it's going to erupt?"

"I'm calling all the volcanists I know and it looks like it, but we all need more data. A bunch of them are coming to Houston soon, so hopefully we'll have more information by then."

"That's amazing! I can't wait for-"

Just then three guys and two girls exited the PR door "Mark, we were looking for you, you ready?"

"Oh um..." he glanced at Mindy.

"Oh um yeah go. I mean we're meeting up after work anyways."

Mark smiled, turned to his new friends and said "Yeah okay, let's head to the cafeteria."

Mindy watched them leave and when they turned the corner she stared at the space they had once occupied. They were meeting up after work but he hadn't seemed to miss her. Their plans seemed more like an obligation to the friend who wouldn't get the hint rather then two close individuals who loved being together. He had new friends now. The ones he'd gone to the bar with the day he'd been with that girl, the ones he was about to eat lunch with. They used to eat lunch together, at first in the cafeteria but everyone would talk and whisper and stare so they started hiding away in his office, or in her 'cubicle' or finding one of the Ares III crew who was on break at a similar time and they would spend ages just chatting away about everything and nothing. Now he hadn't even asked to go to lunch with her, when was the last time they talked. Mindy's eye's fell to the floor and she felt like she was in high school again, wondering if the guy she liked liked her back, worrying if the whispers she heard in the corridor were about her. It was lunch time but Mindy wasn't hungry. She was sure no one would question it too much if she just went back to work, she was on the edge of a break through after all.


	43. 41) HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T

**Hold Me Tight Or Don't**

 **HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T by Fall Out Boy**

Mindy and Mark found themselves in the back of a little diner they'd stumbled across whilst looking for a suitable place to eat after work. They'd made small talk all the way over, talking about funny things that had happened to them that week and about Mark's new PR friends and Mindy's new promotion which the Martian had congratulated her on profusely, it had left Mindy blushing.

"No really Mindy, you work harder than anyone, you deserve that promotion."

"All I do is stare at a screen all day, it's hardly working hard."

"Nonsense! Mindy, what you do is important and you do it well. I mean there's two other people who watch your areas when you're not on shift and they never noticed half the things you observed. The change on Olympus, the rover moving, you've detected storms before anyone can even think to warn anyone else."

"I just get lucky..."

"Mindy, lucky or not, it takes skills to do what you do."

She smiled, shyly. Compliments were not something she knew how to deal with, she almost said the clichéd ' I don't know what to say' but instead she just said "Thank you."

After they'd sat down and ordered Mark leaned over and swished a strand of hair out of Mindy's face "Sorry, it was just like going in your mouth, it was distracting."

If Mindy hadn't been blushing before, she certainly was now "Um thanks."

He tapped the table, opened his mouth, closed it, tapped his foot and then said "I think we should talk."

"I thought that's what we were doing." She joked.

"I mean like... really talk."

"Okay. Sure, of course."

"The reason I've been avoiding you-"

 _He had been avoiding me._ Mindy felt a lump form in her throat and she gulped it down.

"-is because I thought that my... little indecent with Brooke might have upset you somehow-"

 _Upset me? Oh no. He knows. Mark knows I liked him. Why else would he be worried._

"-and then I realised, why would you care. I wasn't worried I'd upset you. I was ashamed. It was stupid and tacky and not like me at all, I'm not a meet-a-woman-in-a-bar, wham-bang-bye, one-night-stand kind of guy and there I was on every newspaper cover and TV station making out with this woman and I was ashamed because I didn't know what you would think of me, so I just tried to avoid having to find out."

Mindy's heart was beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it from across the small table "Mark," she said, turning her head to the side in an earnest manner "I could never- I would never judge you like that! You're allowed to sleep with who ever you want, one night stand or not-" What was she saying? She was driving herself deeper into the friend zone. It didn't matter right now though, Mark had to know she'd never judge him "If anyone should feel ashamed it's that biatch Brooke for getting catty and selling that video; it's with the media for running the story; it's all the people who judged you when they have no idea what you've been through!"

As soon as she'd said her rant it seemed like a weight had been lifted, the awkwardness between them dissipated and suddenly the old Mark and Mindy were back, chatting away like nothing had happened, over cheese burgers (Mark got bacon in his) and some milkshakes (Mark got oreo, Mindy stuck with plain vanilla). It was nice. She had missed this.

No one bothered them whilst they ate, the waiter had looked a little shocked to see them but he hadn't commented on it, simply taking their order like the most famous astronaut on earth wasn't sitting in front of him. Knowing Mark, he'd probably tip extra just because of that. Privacy had become a luxury for him lately, it had been hard to adjust from total isolation to not a moment alone. Sometimes Mark would just pinch himself to make sure he hadn't hallucinated the rescue.

"So guess what. Annie wants me to go on The Watney Report and talk about Olympus Mons."

Mark nodded thoughtfully "Kate Wilson is a very nice lady but she also needs to keep her ratings..."

"I know, no one cares about a volcano erupting on Mars, they care about us, our relationship how I'm reacting to Brooke and dumb shit like that but it might just bring some eyes on Mons anyway and at the end of the day that's Annie's job. And you know, with my new promotion it's my job too."

"Oh yeah, the promotion! How's the new office?"

"I love it. A lot of the time I'm still kinda doing the same job only now I just have to make sure everyone else in my group is doing it too and go to the bi-monthly meetings with Joel and the other team heads. Rachel's one of 'em too."

"No way? Where's her team watching?"

"She's on the Ares V site. NASA is trying to figure out how they're going to retrieve all those samples you took. I mean it's samples from a large array of geological locations, if we got that back it could be ground breaking!"

"If Olympus Mons erupts that would be ground breaking. I mean maybe it will give us a clue on Martian tectonic plates or what's below the surface, like in the centre of the planet."

"We're all hoping so. I'm still working on my powerpoint for the show. You've done loads of TV stuff, would you read it over? Make sure it's okay?"

"Of course! What are friends for!"

Mindy tried not to shut down after that comment. It was stupid, they were friends, good ones and if she kept reacting like this every time he pointed it out, they wouldn't be for long. Maybe she should just tell him. But what if he doesn't like her and then it's awkward? What if he dates her because he feels he has to and then their terrible relationship messes with his mind even more than Mars did? Well maybe not more than Mars, that would be impossible, and it would be silly of her to think she's a bigger trauma than being stranded on Mars for over a years. She's always telling friends to go for it, it would be hypocritical of her if she didn't. But before she could open her mouth to say anything, the waiter had been called and suddenly they were paying the bill. Or rather he was paying the bill "Wait Mark, let's go dutch."

"No no it's fine, my treat."

"I can't let you do that!"

"It's my treat. And besides, I've already paid."

The waiter shrugged like there was nothing he could do, thanked them both for eating there and went back to serving other customers. Mindy shook her head like he was a mischievous child and not a full grown adult "Honestly, you tricked me."

"I was just too fast." He laughed, darting a hand behind her ear and pulling out a quarter. "And tricky."

"I'm a woman of science Mark, do you honestly expect me to be impressed with the ol' quarter-out-of-the-ear trick?"

"No, but how about" his hand went behind her ear again and this time came back with three quarters "the newer three-quarters-out-of-the-ear-trick?"

She giggled.

Mark placed his hand back on the side of her face, less reaching behind her ear and more just resting it on her cheek.

She looked up at him.

He looked down at her.

Was it just her or were their faces getting closer together.

Was he leaning towards her? They were standing so close Mark could feel her breath on his face, he could smell the vanilla on her breath, he wondered if he smelt like oreos.

Mindy's breathing almost stopped when Mark's eyes darted to her lips. She closed her eyes. And she waited a second and nothing happened and the heat near her face resided and she opened her eyes and Mark had pulled away. Looking around and at the floor and anywhere but her because of course he was. Mindy wanted to hit herself, how could she be so stupid? She turned away from him stiffly and went to call a cab "It was fun hanging out with you again Mark." She said robotically.

He smiled at her quickly "Yeah, you too. We should definitely do this again."

"Without a doubt." She replied as she hopped into her cab. She gave her address to the driver and made her way home. That had been the most embarrassing moment of her life. More embarrassing than when her mom had picked her up from school in a dressing gown or when Mindy had slipped on puke in 7th grade or when her university professor had started flirting with her DURING class. More embarrassing than Pearce Kennedy assaulting her in a closet.

She took deep breaths to stop herself from breaking down in the back of the taxi and debated diverting to a kebab place to get her staple comfort food of donher kebabs and icecream but decided against it when they got closer to her house than to the shops. She wasn't made of money, she wasn't about to run up the meter.

She was being stupid.

Mark had been about to kiss her. Right? He had been, they had been so close, Mindy had basically puckered her lips for him so why did he pull away?


	44. 42) Thick Skin And An Elastic Heart

**42 Thick Skin and an Elastic Heart**

 **Elastic Heart by Sia**

Mark paced around Dr Shields office as he spoke "We were this close to kissing and then I panicked and pulled away. It was horrible! Then she just got into a taxi with the most bullshit goodbye, not that I can blame her."

"Why did you panic Mark?"

"What do you mean?"

"You may not want to admit it to anyone but we both know that you like her, so when she was all ready to kiss you why didn't you?"

Mark paused in his walking up and down the length of the room "Why didn't I?" Mark sat down on the sofa "That whole thing with Brooke, I never told you why I ran out because honestly I've kinda been in denial. All the NASA doctors told me I might have touch starvation because I hadn't been touched in so long and humans are social creatures blah blah blah and I figured I'd be fine and then I'd hug my friends, I'd shake hands and it'd be normal so I figured I was fine."

"But?" She prompted.

"But then Brooke happened and she was so _close_. I felt like I was on fire, I panicked and like the articles say, I got the hell outta there."

"And when you were about to kiss Mindy you were worried it would happen again?"

"I guess yeah. I'm scared that I'll kiss her and then have a freak out. I mean what if I never get over this and I'm just stuck forever alone?"

"That's not going to happen Mark. Firstly you're a great guy, anyone would be lucky to have you and secondly a relationship isn't based off of sex and make out sessions. There are plenty of healthy asexual relationships."

"But I don't want to have an asexual relationship, I'm just your typical horn-dog of a guy!" Mark exclaimed.

"Here's the thing Mark, touch-starvation and sensitivity can be phased out but like everything else it will take time and dedication. Now I'm going to give you my opinion on what I think you should do and obviously if you're not comfortable doing it you don't have to but I propose you tell Mindy how you feel about her because I can basically guarantee she feels the same way. And I know you can kiss without freaking out because there's videos to prove it so any make out sessions are advisable but before you enter into a relationship I want you to sit her down and explain to her the way you explained to me that too much touch too soon is over-whelming. She seems like the kind of girl willing to take it slow for the good of the relationship."

"So tell her I love her, tell her I have touch-sensitivity and then be her boyfriend? That's your plan on what I should do?"

"It is. But only if you feel ready."

"What about my panic attacks?"

"You seem to do better when there are other people around."

"But I need to figure out how to deal by myself."

"Coming to grips with things by yourself is the last step. You have friends and family that would love nothing more than to help you. Let them, that's the second step."

"What's the first?"

"Admitting you have a problem. Remember in the first month you down right refused to acknowledge you had PTSD and up until now you denied touch-starvation. Now you've accepted it, we can work towards getting over it."

Mark nodded "Anything you recommend to help get over the touch thing without Mindy?"

Siobhan nodded and stood to go to her desk and grab her contacts book "I have a friend, she's a touch therapist. Touch therapists are usually looked down upon by people in my profession but I've worked with many veterinarian with amputations or serious injuries and I sometimes send them her way. She's basically like a glorified masseuse except she has some of the qualifications I have and won't push any boundaries you're not comfortable with. All you'd have to do is tell her to stop and she'll stop." She handed him the paper "This is her contact info, if you call her tell her I sent you."

"Dr Buffay?" Mark laughed.

"Yeah. What's so funny?"

"A masseuse! Named Buffay! What is her first name Phoebe?"

"No it's Ursula."

Mark started laughing harder "Oh my God!" He wiped an invisible tear from his eye.

"You've lost me." Siobhan said, extremely confused.

"Friends! That old TV show. There was a masseuse named Phoebe Buffay who had a twin sister called Ursula."

"Oh, I've never watched friends."

"If you want to be my therapist you have to watch Friends. And basically every old sitcom from like 4 decades ago."

She raised her eyebrow "As you can imagine I'm a very busy woman."

"Too busy for Cheers?" Mark asked jokingly.

"Unfortunately. You're probably better off talking to Lewis about this stuff."

Mark shook his head "I thought with her love of 80s disco she'd know more as well but it's not the case. She's as clueless as you when it comes to friends. Next time any of us take an extended break I'm making them watch friends."

There session came to an end with Mindy on his mind and Media on the brain. Media because that was his job now and he was pretty great at it. So great in fact that his mentor, Jeff, had just given in his one week official notice so he could start the shift to SpaceX.

Annie sauntered into the room like she owned the place, and she might as well with how important her job was, "Mark, you've been doing really well."

"Thanks."

"Chelsea and Dan you two have really stepped it up recently."

"Thank you Annie."

"Cindy, Xander you two are doing pretty great also. In fact everyone's been doing really well this month and since Jeff Davies is leaving at the end of the week I propose we have a little shindig after work."

"Shindig?" Mark scoffed at her odd language.

"According to HR since I'm your boss and it's technically a work related thing I'm not allowed to call it a party. Doesn't mean you guys can't though." She looked around "So who isn't free, Friday after work?" Somehow it worked out that no one had plans for that day "Wow. None of us have plans. Why am I not surprised?" She said dryly as she turned to her office to actually do some work "Okay guys it's decided, on Friday we'll do something Jerome and Chelsea, you guys are in charge of making sure wherever we go has enough space for everyone, you can make any reservations in my name." In her office her phone rang, she rolled her eyes with a sigh and went to answer it "Mr President, to what do I owe the honour of your call?" The office heard as she closed the door.

Chelsea's eyes widened "Is she talking to the President?!"

Jeff laughed "Annie knows people at the highest levels, it's one of the reasons why she's invaluable as a PR Director. If you're planning on sticking around you should get used to that."

Chelsea stared at the door of Annie's office and mumbled "She is _so_ cool."

 **A/N: My notes to myself as I write chapters that include a lot of background OCs.**

 **Annie Montrose**

 **Cindy [Cooper] (Chapter 38)**

 **Jeff [Davies](ex-twitter moved to SpaceX Chapter 38 + 43)**

 **Xander [Cage](Chapter 38)**

 **Matt [Renner](Chapter 16)**

 **Chelsea [Mansfield](Brunette Intern Chapter 28+31)**

 **Dan [Leslie](Chapter 28+31)**

 **Jerome [Williams](Black Guy Chapter 28)**

 **Mark Watney (Twitter)**


	45. 43)Danger, I Don't Fit In I'm A Stranger

**43 Danger, Danger I Don't Fit In, I'm A Stranger**

 **Danger by Migos ft Marshmallo**

Friday couldn't come fast enough for the PR team but to Mindy the week went by in a blink. She would be making her debut appearance on CNN's Mark Watney Report with Kate Wilson that afternoon. She had to leave work early and make her way down to the studio and the whole day she had been a nervous wreck. Rachel had been giving her pep talks all day, Mark had sent her a few encouraging texts and her boss hadn't even been annoyed when instead of doing her work that day she'd been going over her power point, obsessively editing and re-editing it, trying to get it just right. "You'll be fine you know." Joel said to her as he came into her office "Mindy you're great at what you do, everyone's going to see that."

"But I'm not a geologist! I'm not an expert in _any_ field that links to my study of Olympus Mons. What if she asks me a question and I don't know the answer? I'll look like a complete idiot. And that will make NASA look bad."

"It will make you seem more human, besides it's Kate Wilson, she's a great hard hitting reporter when she wants to be but this doesn't seem like that kind of show, she'll probably lob you soft balls not that you couldn't handle hard balls." One of Mindy's underlings entered her office to place something on her desk at the same time Mindy's boss Joel rambled "You could handle any kind of balls."

The underling looked from Joel to Mindy very confused and then left without saying a word. Mindy burst out laughing "Oh my God."

"Great. Now I've just become new office gossip."

"You? People are gonna be wondering how I _really_ got this job. Is it because I'm friends with Teddy and Kapoor? Is it because I'm sleeping with Mark or because I'm effing the boss? Who knows!"

Joel sighed disbelievingly "Some rumours are crazy, sorry about this new one. Guess I'm not the best at pep talks."

"Nah, you are. I feel way better about this. You're right Kate's pretty nice."

"Before you go back to stressing, maybe look through these papers that put on you desk? At least try to get them done?"

Mindy looked at the stack of work she hadn't done that day "Right, of course. Sorry Joel."

"Don't worry, I get it. TV is stressful."

Mindy got quite a bit of work done by the time her alarm went for her to leave. She packed up her stuff, making sure her computer was locked and any files that were supposed to be secret or for her only were in her locked top draw. When she left her office she was shocked by the cheers of encouragement all her old co-workers were giving her. Front and centre, cheering the loudest was Rachel Dare, man did Mindy love that girl. She gave her a hug, thanked everyone for their support and then exited the office. She was running a few minutes behind but she'd planned for some sort of delay so she'd still be early.

She drove to the studio thinking about the last time she'd been there. To yell at Kate Wilson and get Mark the fuck out of there. She hoped Kate didn't hold a grudge, something told her she wouldn't given the circumstances.

She was whisked off to hair and make up the moment she arrived and a little while into the process Kate Wilson herself showed up "Mindy Park, it's nice to see you again under better circumstances."

"You too Kate."

"So you understand that people don't care _that_ much about Olympus Mons but you can make people care because people will watch just because you're Mindy Park."

"Yeah I understand."

"Now my producers all say that I better not pull any 'feminist crap' and not ask you about Mark but I will save all personal questions until the end because A) people will have to watch the whole show to hear it and B) people should know about Olympus Mons if it's about to explode that would be freaking awesome."

"Thanks for that. Did he really say 'feminist crap'?"

"Direct quote. I'm a reporter Mindy, I wouldn't lie about that."

"I don't know, you are CNN for all I know this could be fake news." Mindy joked.

It took Kate a second to get the extremely dated reference but when she did she laughed too "Wow Mindy, a Trump joke? I've never met a bigger nerd in my life and I've met Mark Watney."

"You think I'm dated? Mark's still going about Friends and Cheers and The Commander and her husband are a bunch of Disco nuts. Honestly for people who are supposed to be propelling us into the future, they're all very fixated on the past."

"Kate! We need you!" Someone called from down the hall.

Kate sighed "I better go, I have to do camera check. I'll see you out there Mindy."

"Okay." Mindy responded awkwardly, giving her a wave in lieu of saying 'bye' because she would being seeing the other woman very soon.

She took another deep breath as she tried to steel her nerves and the make up artist smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, Kate will take care of you out there."

Mindy smiled back "Hopefully. I'm really not built to be on TV." She paused for a second and then said "What's your name?"

"Maria Darly, makeup artist extraordinare, at your service. My daughter loves you, you know."

"She does?!" Mindy replied extremely confused.

"She does. Do you know why?" Mindy shook her head "Because you are just a regular person who does great things. My daughter was sacred to go into science because she doesn't think she's some super mega genius like Hawkings or something. But you are a regular woman who worked hard at college got a degree, went to work for NASA and then here you are studying space volcanoes and going on TV and she loves you for it. You don't have to be any different than you already are, just do what you would do off camera and people will see how great you are."

"Thank you."

Maria laughed "Honestly, I've been wanting to say something this whole time but I was as nervous as you were. My daughter got this photo of you from the internet professionally printed on some website and she was wondering if you would sign it?"

"Sign something! Me? Really?!"

"Yeah, really." She pulled out a photo form her bag of Mindy Park with her name and title printed next to her with the NASA logo in the top corner.

"Oh wow. I'll do you one better, I'll sign it but let's get a selfie together as well."

Maria Darly grinned from ear to ear "My daughter's going to be so happy."

Mindy signed the photo and then the two posed for a selfie "Damn, you're good at make up. I've literally never looked this good."

"Well hey, if ever you and your astronaut friends are going to an event hit me up for a make over." She said handing her a business card.

"You do free lancing?"

"This shows only on once a week now, I gotta save up for the university fees my daughter's definitely going to need."

"Ha, right. My mom and I are still paying that loan back."

A man who seemed way to old to do his job came in and said "Equipment check is done, Mindy you're up in 3 minutes."

A spike of nerves washed over her before she remembered Maria's speech "Okay. Three minutes. I can do this. I know my stuff. I work hard. I spent all of today going over it like 100 times. I discussed everything with Chamberlain last night. I can do this. Let's go."

"Okay." He said boredly "Follow me." he pivoted on the spot and started walking without even checking if Mindy was following.

Maria rolled her eyes, clearly this was a common thing "He replaced interns. Kate doesn't want another huge mistake so he basically gets all the grunt work, he's very bored. Now go before you lose him."

"Thanks Maria." Mindy leapt up, tucking the business card in her blazer jacket and jogging to catch up with the man.

She sat on the sofa next to Kate who was talking to one of the producers and took deep breaths. "I can do this."

Kate finished her conversation and turned to Mindy with a laugh "You okay there Park? You're not going to have a panic attack on me are you?"

"Ha! You and Annie Montrose are so similar. You've both asked me that, except Annie said if I was having one to leave her press conference and do it somewhere else."

"I have on many occasions been called the Nice Ms Montrose."

"Really?"

"No. Never, that was sarcasm."

Mindy groaned "Oh God, I suck so bad."

"30 SECONDS YOU TWO."

"Mindy, how's your fake laugh?"

"Um..." she gave a fake laugh.

"That's pretty good-"

"20 SECONDS!"

Kate continued "-when we get to like 5 seconds bust that out will you? We're supposed to start the show as if we've been talking."

"But we are talking."

"10 SECONDS!"

"But we have to look like we have been having a blast beforehand and the audience missed it."

"5!"

"So start laughing Mindy, we were having a blast."

"4!"

Mindy gave a laugh "4 seconds seems like way too long to be fake laughing for." She rushed out.

"3!"

"Here we go Mindy." Kate started fake laughing too.

"2!"

At 1 he held up his finger and the cameras started rolling, the logo fading to reveal the two laughing woman. Their laughing resides after a few seconds and Kate turned to the camera and greeted their spectators "Welcome to CNN's Mark Watney Report, I'm your host, Kate Wilson. With me today is Mindy Park from NASA's Sat Com department here to talk about Olympus Mons, Mars and being friends with the likes of Mark Watney and the rest of the Ares III crew. Mindy, welcome to the show, it's lovely to have you."

"It's even greater to be had, I'm a big fan of the show."

"I'm sure you are!" She said suggestively since it was called the Watney Report and then turned back to the camera "Now everyone I'm sure you all just want to hear about Mark Watney and you will but you have to watch the whole thing because you don't know when I'll ask and this is some pretty interesting stuff we're talking about. Mindy why don't you explain to everyone a bit about Olympus Mons."

"With pleasure. Olympus Mons is a very large shield volcano on the planet Mars and is the largest known volcano in the solar system..."

 **This is the powerpoint she has (PS it's not factually correct to real life some things are but I can't remember what isn't so, ready my I introduce you to grain of salt: post/172314304089 (If you read this on AO3[Archive of Our Own] then pictures and videos are embedded. You guys are missing out on all kinds of extra bonus picture chapters. Her'es my AO3 link: /works/7827658/chapters/19088215 )**

Mindy went through her power point, explaining the volcano and why it was important to Kate, it was easier when she just spoke to Kate rather than the thousands of viewers and she fell into it comfortably, this was stuff she knew.

"So Mindy tell me about the day this temperature change was discovered, that must have been very exciting for you."

"Um well, I'd come into work an hour early to get ahead of all the cuffufel of everyone rushing in at the same time to avoid being late. And my boss Joel and I were talking and he was saying how he had some good news for me and some of my colleges but he would wait for them to arrive. So I get to working, everyone comes in I'm drinking some coffee my friend Rachel brought me and then the computer notifies me that there'd been a temperature increase and I freak out yelled something completely nonsensical and then everyone's like crowded around my screen freaking out because Olympus Mons hasn't changed temperatures for a long time."

"Okay now I would love to talk more about Olympus Mons, I really would this is so interesting we should talk after the show but my producers are giving me the signal to wrap up the intellectual stuff and get into the juicy gossip. Mindy Park, you are known by a lot of people as one of Mark Watney's 'good friends' although many people think you're more than friends, giving you the ship name 'Mark Park' what do you say to those shippers?"

"Me and Mark are just friends guys. I know most people still won't believe me but I can assure you we're not dating and we never have dated so sorry to crush your dreams."

"Many people want to know how you feel about Mark behaviour with Brooke Lively not too long ago."

"I don't think anything of Mark's 'behaviour'. He's a grown ass man he can hook up or not hook up if he wants. What I do have strong feelings against is Ms Lively taking it upon herself to get the footage from her neighbour and sell it to the press. I don't condone that at all."

"And are you jealous of Brooke? That she got to kiss Watney when you apparently haven't?"

Mindy's mind flashed back to the moment outside the diner when they almost kissed and then to the moment before Beck and Beth's big announcement when she had helped him put on his tie and their faces had been so close but snapped out of it in an instant "Of course not." She said, she hoped she sounded convincing, because it sounded a little weak even to herself "Mark is my friend. And I'm an adult, if I liked him I would tell him, I wouldn't dance around it like some school girl crush."

"So Mark's been friend zoned?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing. He's not friend zoned but we're just friends. Why is that so hard to believe?"

Kate nodded with a smile, she'd clearly liked Mindy's answer since she decided to change her line of questioning in an instant to a less invasive one. "You worked with lots of volcanologists when you were studying Olympus Mons right?"

"Yes."

"Have you noticed anything strange about volcanologists as a group?"

"Well a lot of the volcanologists I spoke to hadn't taken most of their vacation days. When I told them about my research all of them were eager to fly out and talk to me in person and some of them ended up using vacation days and they had so many. Like some had days carried over from last year it was crazy, I wish I had that many days in one stretch of time."

"Now Mindy, you are very 'white' in that you have blond hair and blue eyes but you're actually Korean right?"

Mindy smiled at that question "And proud. My mother is half Korean but was pretty much raised as Korean and I was raised by my mom, she's a single parent so she influenced me a lot."

"Do you speak Korean?"

"Actually yes! It's been a while since I've spoken Korean but I'm technically fluent. ne, jeoneun sasil hangug-in-igo, jeoneun gajja kolia buga anibnida. Kpop-ui paendeul-eul bulkwaehagehaji masibsio." **(Yes guys I'm actually Korean, I'm not some fake Koreaboo. No offence Kpop fans.) according to Google translate.**

"Do Korean and Asian people ever call your asian-ness into question?"

"They're a bit surprised when I tell them but no Asian person has ever questioned me about it, it's exclusively white people who always say 'Whaaaaa? But you don't look Korean!' or something along those lines." She paused, "Actually that's hyperbole, there was one Asian kid in my first year of college who every day for a week kept asking me trivia about Korea to try and catch me out, of course he wasn't Korean so he only knew basic stuff anyways and I answered all his questions correctly but I was really offended. I spent a long time when I was younger worrying I wasn't Korean enough to be Korean but I wasn't white either. I didn't know where I fitted in and then this guys comes along and refuses to believe me and it really hurt. I don't get it as much anymore since everyone who knows I'm Korean just accepts it."

"Earlier you mentioned your boss had good news for you, what was that about?"

"Oh! This I'm excited about as well. Because of all the futures Ares missions NASA managed to get 2 more satellites in the skies which means SatCom needs a larger team to manage them. Everyone got split into teams that get managed by a micro manager and I just got promoted to head of my team."

"You only just now got promoted?"

"Well I got promoted form the night shift to the day shirt before but that was barely a promotion since it was exactly the same, so technically this would be my first promotion."

"Okay, before we end the show I have one more Mark related question."

"Go ahead."

"You lived next door to Mark, how did you guys manage that and is that why you're such great friends?"

"When Mark was declared dead the bank sold his house and when he came back he was in Chicago with his parents for a while but when he moved back to Houston my old neighbour had just moved so I suggested it and it's a nice apartment block so we ended up being neighbours! And it definitely made us better friends. We ended up car-pooling to work most days so we had quite some time to talk and learn stuff about each other."

"And you no longer live next to each other?"

"No, since he got doxxed by those hackers and then I doxxed myself in that mad dash across the hall we both moved, so now we're not neighbours anymore. I still hang out with him and the Ares III crew, in fact Mark and I went for burgers a little while ago." Why did she bring up their dinner 'date'?

"A date?"

"Can't be a date if we're just friends."

"Right, sorry. I had to ask."

"Well it seems like we're coming to the end of our show, Mindy Park it's been lovely talking to you."

"You too Kate, it's been a pleasure I'm glad I came on."

"I hope your promotion and you research into Olympus Mons goes well I'll try and keep people as updated as I can right here on CNN's Mark Watney Report. If you have any questions please tweet at us MarkWatneyReport_CNN. Thanks for tuning in you can find us right here every Friday with new and exciting guests."

As the camera man counted down Kate and Mindy waved at the camera, credits rolled across their faces and then zero hit, the cameras turned off and they were off air.

"Oh my God." Mindy said, releasing a huge puff of breath.

"Calm down, you did great. You answered those questions like a champ."

"Thanks, I'm really not good in spotlights, I mean there's a reason I used to work the graveyard shift in the NASA basement."

"Well like I said, you did great, I'd love to have you back. If you make any new cool discoveries all you have to do is ask and you're on."

"Wow, that's really nice of-" her phone rang "Hang on that's Teddy, could be important he doesn't usually call me." She dug her phone out of her pocket and answered "Park."


	46. 44) They'll Tell The Story of Tonight

**44 They'll Tell The Story of Tonight**

 **The Story of Tonight [Hamilton] by Lin-Manuel Miranda**

Gabriella Santiago was new to SatCom. So of course they'd stuck her into some dead ass graveyard shift that had just opened up because some prodigy had been promoted way faster than usual. Apparently in the aftermath of Mark Watney a lot of people got fast tracked promotions. But of course Santiago had jumped on the NASA train a bit too late to qualify and so here she was, in the middle of the night, staring at pictures of some long dormant space volcano. Okay it was hardly the _middle_ of the night. In fact it was only 8 o'clock but work days were supposed to be 9AM-5PM not 5PM-1AM (although she felt bad for the poor bastard who worked the 1AM-9AM shift, that was brutal).

She was basically asleep at her desk and it had only been 3 hours but a loud beep from her computer jolted her awake "Mmmm, what? I'm up!" She looked around, a few of her neighbours sniggered at her screw up and she cringed in embarrassment before looking at what the computer alert had been. "I thought this thing was dormant?"

"It is." The super boring guy next to her replied in an equally boring voice. In the back of her mind the name 'Gary' was supplied to her.

"Then why is lava flowing out of it?"

He sputtered "WHAT!" 'Gary' threw himself off his own chair so that he could see her screen, as if he couldn't already see from where he was "OH MY GOD! CALL MINDY PARK! CALL MINDY NOOOOOOOW!"

She went through the NASA phone book and couldn't find Mindy, she said so out loud.

"Forget it!" He yelled, grabbing the book from her hand and dialling Teddy Sanders the Director of NASA.

"What are you doing!?"

He ignored her.

"You're calling the Director of NASA? My ass will be on the line if this comes back to me Gary!"

"My name is Grant, and this is way to important for me to care."

The phone rang a few times and then _"Sanders."_

"Olympus Mons is erupting, you need to call Mindy."

Teddy sighed but he didn't complain about being interrupted "Sure." He hung up on him.

"If we get fired-"

"We won't," Grant insisted, "this is big news."

Teddy reluctantly called Mindy as soon as her episode of The Mark Watney Report had cut out.

 _"Park."_

"Olympus Mons is erupting according to some idiots down in SatCom, you're old shift if I'm not mistaken."

"It's ERUPTING? Now?!" There was the sound of Mindy saying hasty farewells to Kate and the crew and then the scuffle of a coat being put on. Teddy held the phone away from his ear as a serious of ambiguous and random sounds filtered through and then he heard her car stark up and the phone click into one of those phone holders on a car window.

"Can I hang up now?"

"Yeah, I got it from here Teddy but this is huge! Olympus Mons has been do-"

"I'm the Director of NASA, I _know_ about Olympus Mons, Mindy." And then he hung up. He was done with this Mars shit.


	47. 45) Explosions It Will Never Be The Same

**45 Explosions... It Will Never Be The Same**

 **Explosions by Ellie Goulding**

Mindy Park was in her car and speeding down the Houston main streets in seconds flat. She hadn't run that fast in her life. Olympus Mons was erupting.

She parked across several spaces in the NASA lot and leapt out of her car, hitting the ground running. By the time she made it to her SatCom station she was panting heavily and she could see the early warning signs of an eruption displayed on her screen.

She looked over at the man and woman standing around her old computer "Hi Grant," she smiled at her old colleague and then looked at the girl "What's your name?"

"Gabriella Santiago."

"Well Gabriella, I used to do this shift at this desk. And now Olympus Mons is my project and it's erupting!" She immediately went about calling different departments to make sure she'd be able to collect as much data as possible from the volcano and everyone she called even though they were all kind of annoyed to be called after regular working hours once they heard what was going on they threw their kids off their laps, wrapped their dinner up for later and immediately got to work.

Santiago watched as Mindy and her work neighbour geeked out over the volcano and as the lava and ash finally made itself known Santiago found herself sucked into the nerd herd herself. "That is pretty cool."

"This might be the key to figuring out what's underneath Mars' surface. Scientists assume it doesn't have tectonic plates like Earth does so it's all a bit of a mystery but in the next decade we could get an Ares Mission up there to figure it out!"

Gabriella frowned "So this is really big news huh." She got out her phone and started filming "Maybe NASA might tweet this later."

In another part of the NASA building the PR guys were in the middle of Jeff's going away party. There was cake, there was alcohol so it was a party. They'd originally planned to go out but since no one could decide on a place they'd just brought food and drinks to the office and turned it into party central.

Annie knocked her plastic fork against her wine glass in a joking way and everyone laughed as she got up to say her speech "Jeff, you've been working here for years now and you're one of the best employees I've ever had. You're reliable, you're hard working and you're damn good at your job. SpaceX will be lucky to have you."

A couple more people spoke some about how hard working he was, others about how great a friend he was, some told some funny stories (Like the time someone had pressed the record button on his phone and he'd accidentally tweeted out a video of them talking about the merits of butt sex on the official NASA twitter page) which got raucous laughter in reply.

And then someone came knocking at the door. Chelsea opened it "Hello?"

A jittery looking SatCom employee practically exploded, "Olympus Mons is erupting! Mindy Park just got here and she's freaking out!"

Chelsea's eyes widened and she yelled at everyone to shut up "Olympus Mons is erupting!"

Annie Montrose put her cup of wine down on the table and sobered up with a few light smacks to her own face "Okay, back to work for me it seems." She looked around to see who was still sober, it seemed it was just herself barely), Chelsea who'd been designated 'driver' to make sure no one did anything stupid like tweet the going ons of the party and Mark Watney who had had one beer and then quit. "Chelsea, Watney you're with me. Everyone else enjoy the party, that's an order."

The three left with the SatCom guy and arrived to find Gabriella filming and Mindy and some other guy recording results from the eruption.

Annie immediately hijacked someone's laptop as she hadn't thought to bring her own in her slightly drunken haze and started working on a press release, leaving gaps where any hard figures could go in.

Mark and Chelsea watched the screen in awe "Holy fuck!" The former astronaut announced to the room.

"Holy fuck indeed." Mindy agreed, looking over at him with a smile.


	48. 46) She The GOAT Now Does Anybody Doubt?

**46 She The G.O.A.T. Now Does Anybody Doubt It**

 **Django Jane by Janelle Monáe**

The next day Mindy found herself on stage at a press conference reading the speech Annie had written for her. She was tired from staying at the office until late but she was hiding it well with some make up and a butt load of coffee.

Most of the journalists were from the Science and Technology section of their papers which means the questions she got were actually intelligent and related to the volcano although one guy from a tabloid had found his way in the room and asked about how she was handling her new found fame. It wasn't an entirely dumb question so Mindy answered it with little hesitation "Well, it's not like I'm _that_ famous. I only really get recognised when I'm with the Ares III crew. And it's really weird being on the news." She gestured to everyone "Couple years ago I wouldn't have even dreamed of being the leading expert at a press conference and now... here I am!" She answered a few more scientific questions and then the conference came to an end and she was ushered off to speak some more about Olympus Mons for the NASA Youtube channel and the NASA Podcast, Houston We Have A Podcast. The name was cheesy as hell but it was pretty good, and she used to listen to it during the night shift (she can't really get away with that as much now she was the boss lady).

As it turned out the footage Santiago had taken had come in handy and it was used in the youtube video alongside footage of Mindy's talk on The Watney Report and footage of the eruption that they had captured with their equipment.

If it wasn't already 'Mindy Park' became a house hold name for space geeks, she got a spot on the Ellen show, right after the kid who yodelled in target and the other kid who yelled "HOT DAAAAAMN HANNAH" at his friends converses. And of course Ellen launched her more into the main stream. She found herself sitting in her apartment obsessively scrolling through the Youtube comments. Some were really nice and made Mindy glow with pride, some were just spam and political talk that had nothing to do with the video, the were at least ten "First"s which Mindy shook her head at. The ones that bothered her were the racist comments because she was half Korean.

 **These Asians come into our country and steal our jobs!**

Never mind that she was an American citizen.

 **Eh I can understand why Mark isn't dating her, she's got ching chong eyes**

What did that even mean? Mindy looked like the whitest blondest women in the world and yet they were still being racist about her appearance? And ching chong eyes? She found herself replying to the comment in a fury.

 **Not only is that racist, it's also unoriginal. I know 3rd graders with better insults than you.**

She pressed send and was about to continue scrolling when she heard a knock at her door. She checked through the peep hole to find Mark Watney standing outside with a bag and some chocolates, and not just any chocolates, her favourite. Lindor white! Yes! She opened the door with a smile "Watney, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You are erupting onto the scene right now-"

"-oh my God-" she rolled her eyes at his cheesy pun.

"-we have to celebrate. And I figured with all your new found fame it might be hard to not get mobbed out there so I got wine, I got chocolate and the takeout's on me."

"Sounds like a plan, come on in." She stepped aside and Mark lay his bag on the table next to her laptop.

He looked up at the screen and laughed "Are you reading comments about yourself?"

"Uuum..."

"Trust me Mindy, that's a bad move. People are mean."

"I wish you'd told me that sooner." She grumbled to no one in particular.

They ordered some food, charged to Mark's credit card like her had promised and went to prepare the wine. Mark found a cork in her draw and popped open the bottle of wine. Mindy retrieved some glasses and she directed them towards the couch. Mark went to sit down when Mindy screeched "WAIT!"

"WHAT?!"

Mindy pointed at the sofa where he'd about to plant his butt and there was Nico, the black cat, resting like he owned the place. At Mindy's yell he cracked open one eye, looked at Mindy then Mark, meowed and closed its eyes again.

Mark laughed "I almost sat on your cat." He moved a few inches to the right and sat down on the sofa for real this time.

"Nico would have hated you so much if you did."

Mark chuckled and held up his wine glass for a toast "To Nico not hating me."

Mindy clinked her cup against his "To Nico not hating you."

"And to you, Mindy." Mark added as they took a sip of their alcohol.

"To us." She amended.

The atmosphere in the room was almost stifling. Mark was looking her dead in the eye and Mindy's own blue ones were trapped my Mark's. Both of their cups suddenly found themselves out of their hands and on to the coffee table in front of the sofa. Mindy felt like the south pole of a magnet being drawn towards Mark's north pole. As if they had both been hypnotised Mindy kissed him and Mark kissed back and it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

Mindy had had kisses before, but never like this.

She got onto her knees whilst and straddled him whilst keeping their mouths connected and his hands floated for a second over her torso, unsure of where to go, before they landed on her face.

Mindy's own hands found themselves under Mark's shirt and trying to remove it from his body. For a moment Mindy panicked because where the hell was Nico if they had just laid across the whole sofa but a quick look to the side showed Nico was half way across the apartment not caring that his owner was finally getting some action.

Once Mark's shirt was off she separated for a second to pull off her own shirt and when she looked back down at Mark to recapture his mouth he was smiling at her with his typical one sided cheeky grin. On a meaner man it would have looked smarmy but on Mark it just looked sexy. She smiled back at him and leaned back down to continue their make out session.

It got heated fast, Mindy was running her hands up and down Mark's bare torso like he was a clay pot and she was a potter. And Mark kissed her with such passion, it was amazing.

Mark thought the whole thing was pretty great too but this felt awfully similar to the position he'd been in not to long ago with Brooke Lively and that had not ended well. Touch sensitivity? He really hadn't thought he had it but now it seemed to be flaring up, if that was even the correct term.

It suddenly felt like Mindy had eight arms and they were all touching him at the same time and it was making his heart pound and his breath come short in a way that wasn't necessarily good. He didn't want this to stop, he hadn't had sex in so long and this was Mindy freaking Park of all people, he had wanted this for so long, there was no way he was going to let Mars ruin this for him. But where her fingers touched, it felt like he was on fire. He grabbed her wrists and use the opportunity to flip them around so he was on top and this used his new position to redirect her hands to higher up on his body.

Mindy took this as a challenge and started rocking up against Mark in _just_ the right spot to have him panting in a good way this time. He broke away from her so that he could mutter "Oh God!" into her skin.

Mindy smirked as he fell apart in her lap and whispered "You want to take this one step further?"


	49. 47) Pynk Like The Inside Of Your

**47 Pynk Like The Inside Of Your...**

 **PYNK by Janelle Monáe**

"Yes! Oh God yes!" Mark replied as his hands moved down to undo her jeans zipper suddenly she froze underneath him, going completely rigid and he smile fell. Mark 's fingers which had been uncharacteristically clumsy with the button froze when Mindy froze "Mindy?" He asked concerned "What's wrong?"

"I um... I..." the door bell rang. She sat him, dislodging Mark from on top of her and grabbed her shirt, pulling it back on "I should get that, that's probably the take out."

She went through the usual routine of grabbing to foot and tipping him before returning with a bag of Korean take out. They ate in silence because Mindy didn't want to tell him what was wrong and Mark didn't want to ask.

After they had finished what was on their plates and there was no more buffer zone they could hide from conversation within Mark finally worked up the courage to ask "What happened?"

She shook her head "It's stupid."

"It's not stupid if you-"

"It's stupid!"

"Fine then, tell me anyway. I'm an idiot, idiots appreciate stupid."

She sighed and looked away, Nico jumped onto her lap and she curled around him, "I just... when you unzipped by jeans I just remembered when Pearce..."

His eyes widened "Mindy! Why would you think that was stupid? That's like the least stupid thing!"

"I have no right to be so-so" at a loss of words, she gestured with her hands "it's not like I was actually ra-"

"Actually raped? Mindy, come on, sexual harassment of any kind can be traumatic. What Pearce did to you was not okay, not by any stretch of the word, it's perfectly within your right to be... nervous around men after that."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

She looked pointedly at his now, dying erection "I promised you something and I never came through."

Mark flushed because, when not about to have sex, erections were unreasonably embarrassing. "Of course I'm not mad, you don't owe me anything. And besides, I'm not sure I was really up for this either."

"What do you mean?"

"Shields says I've got touch sensitivity. So far it's only really affected me during … moments like these."

"That's why you moved my hands."

"Yeah."

Mindy laughed "Look at us, two horny adults who can't have sex."

Mark raised an eyebrow "I'm sure in time we'll overcome our hurdles."

"I certainly hope so."


	50. 48) Gotta Hit Them Angles

**48 Gotta Hit Them Angles, With Your Phone Out**

 **Nice For What by Drake**

Mark woke up groggily and groaned when he tried to move his neck and it hurt. There was a weird weight on him that he realised was the combined mass of a small Asian-American woman and her cat half laid on top of him. In the background the TV was playing, was that teleshopping? Huh, he could buy a magic blender for only $24.99 if I called in now and apparently it sliced and diced too.

He leaned up a bit more, ignoring the pain in his neck, and looked around. He had fallen asleep on Mindy's sofa, they both had apparently. Mindy's head was resting on his chest, there was no way to get up without waking her but Mark tried anyway, sliding off the sofa and onto the floor inch by inch so as not to disrupt her too much.

Of course it didn't work and he ended up just wasting his time, she woke up to find Mark half on the floor, awkwardly "Mark?"

"Hey, I didn't want to wake you."

"What time is it?"

"Um, 6:15 AM."

She nodded "You should probably get home and change if you want to get to work on time."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that." He stood up and grabbed his stuff, twisting his neck as he did so "Hey Mindy?" he asked, about to question what last night meant, were they together? What were they? "I had fun last night." he settled with and then he left.

Mark got home pretty quickly since there was next to no traffic on the roads at that time of the morning. When he did get home he showered and changed into new clothes and then had some breakfast. He checked his twitter and saw #WatneyWatch trending "Oh no, now what?"

 **Astronaut Mark Watney was spotted in the early hours of this morning doing the walk, or drive, of shame.**

Underneath it there was a picture of him yesterday leaving a shop with the chocolates in hand and then next to it was a picture of him this morning driving in his car with a time stamp that clearly showed it had been taken that morning. There were red circles in all the areas that showed he was wearing the same clothes. A circle around the collar of his shirt, the striped pattern and the fact that he was driving around that early in the morning highlighted the scandalousness of Mark Watney having yet another sexual encounter.

Mark sighed, as he thought about how when he got to work he would have to explain this to Annie, again, plus he would have to scroll through all the tweet calling him a manwhore or something because that was his job.

He'd hadn't thought this whole thing through, he'd fucked up and he told Dr Shields as much when he saw her that morning "I'm not sure if I can do this anymore, I didn't think the whole thing through."

"What do you mean?"

"Like talking about NASA, easy I can do that, talking about Mars? I can do that too but when I signed up for this job I didn't anticipate talking about myself. Watney Watch is trending on twitter which means when I go to do my job I'll have to deal with all that by myself. There are people out there who absolutely _hate_ me, and when I used to hear about the LeaveHimThere and the LetHimDie movement I could just ignore them pretty easily but now it's my _job_ to deal with them!"

"So you want to quit?"

"I can't quit! I signed a contract! I took the job! Jeff already moved on to his new job, I can't just up and leave like 5 minutes after I got there because I couldn't hack it!"

"Well then maybe you should take a break, I've been telling you to take a break since you got back from your parents'. You really didn't spend a lot of time with them when you got back from Mars."

"I'm not really a break kinda guy."

"Mmm." Shields pulled out a page from her files and stated "You seemed to like breaks a lot in highschool you took a lot of extended breaks."

"Yeah well I actually like working at NASA, I don't think anyone likes highschool." Mark joked.

Siobhan hesitated before asking "Does my line of questioning make you uncomfortable?"

"What? Why?"

"Because when you get uncomfortable you deflect with humour. I tend to ignore it but I can't think why taking a break would make you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't."

"So if I put you on medical leave what would you say?"

"I'd say "Don't" because there's nothing wrong with me."

"Mark, come on, give me something to work with. My sole purpose is to help you, I can't help if you don't open up with me. Why don't you like breaks?"

"Because breaks means being alone." He sighed, looked away and then at the floor "When I was on Mars, I always had something to do, something to fix, something to count, communications, planning, farming. Being alone on Mars wasn't too bad, that wasn't the part that killed me. It was after I lost my potatoes and I lost communications and I was just waiting for the next thing to happen and I would just have to sit there and watch Happy Days and wait for something to happen. Just me, myself and the Fonz. I couldn't stand it! Taking a break means being by myself and having nothing to do and I don't know how to do that anymore without freaking out."

"Why don't you ask the crew to come with you?"

"Beth and Beck are figuring stuff out with the wedding and the kid; it's school time to Alex and Rick's kids are still in school and with how long they've spent away from their kids I doubt they'd want to spend any more time not with them. And The Commander... she denies it but she still feels guilty for leaving me behind on Mars, if I asked her for anything she'd probably say yes because she feels she owes me. They've already given up so much time for me, I can't ask them to give up any more."

"Well don't you think they should be able to decide that?"

"But they'll say yes."

"Isn't that what you want."

"They'll say yes for the wrong reasons."

"Mark, they're grown ups, they can decide for themselves whether they want to hang out with you or not."

"So you think I should take a break and ask them to come with?"

"I do."

"Where would we go?"

"Where do you want to go?"

Mark paused for a second. "Honestly... I just want to go home."

She noted something down on her note pad (she'd gone computer-less ever since the hack) "Your last trip to Chicago got cut short by Annie's press conference and the hack. You haven't been back since have you?"

"No, but I call them almost every day." He paused "My mum... my dad's worried about my mum."

"Why?"

"She... she apparently has a weird lump on her breast... so you know... she's got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Hopefully it's all clear. I don't know what I would do if she..." He looked away again, his eyes unusually moist, Mark Watney was not one for tears. Just then the fire alarm went off "Saved by the bell." he smirked at her but looked around concerned.

They both stood up, Dr Shields locked her papers in a fireproof safe behind her desk and her and Mark left he building to go to the fire assembly point.

Once everyone was outside and accounted for Teddy was handed a megaphone and addressed his employees "I'd like to commend everyone on your quick and orderly exit of the building. I'd also like to apologise for wasting your time, this was not a drill but fortunately this was not an actual fire either. It would seem that _someone_ " he shot a glare at someone in the large crowd but everyone was standing too close to pin point who "fell into the alarm and set it off by accident so everyone can return back to work. Dismissed."

As Mark and Siobhan went back in the direction of her office Mark checked the time and asked if their session was over "I don't know Mark, is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Mark paused, he kinda did want to talk about Mindy, about what happened last night, how the press was kind of right about his drive of shame that morning but instead he just shook his head "Maybe tomorrow."

"If you're sure." She replied. She didn't look convinced but she didn't push it which he was grateful for.

On his way to work Mark put out on his personal twitter

 **No I wasn't doing the walk of shame this morning, I was hanging out with a friend and fell asleep on their sofa. Everyone needs to chill.**

That was technically correct, he didn't mention that the friend was Mindy and that he almost had done the walk of shame had Mindy not called the whole thing off.

What did their kiss and them almost having sex mean? Were they just friends with benefits or did she want something more with him?


	51. 49) We Got A Moment Like Baby

**49 We Got A Moment Like Baby**

 **Tommy by Tommy Genesis**

He held off on asking the crew to come on break with him for about a week before Shields asked him about it again. He hadn't even applied for his own holiday days although NASA would probably drop everything to let him take a break if he wanted them to. That the thing about being stranded on another planet by NASA, once they get you back they do everything in their power to keep you from suing them.

It had also been a week since he'd spoken to Mindy about the kiss, or at all really. She hadn't texted him, he hadn't texted her and the longer he left it the more nervous he got about it. After a week of working and worrying and wondering what it all meant he finally spilt the beans to Dr Shields - it was her job to help him after all, she might have ideas.

"Don't text her. Clearly you two need to just talk this out."

"But-"

"Mark, she clearly likes you too. Ask her out on an actual date."

"If we go anywhere together you know the press will be all over us."

"Mark, you're famous, use that! There are restaurants for high profile guests that operate with discretion. Take a car there, get tinted windows and no one will even know you'd been there."

Mark thought about it, asking out Mindy Park. It seemed impossible to do and impossible that she would say yes but she _had_ kissed him back on her sofa that day so maybe Siobhan was right, maybe Mindy _did_ like him too.

"Okay. I'll ask her out. Oh wow, I'm going to ask out Mindy Park."

And with that plan in mind and his resolute at 100% he took off in the direction of Mindy's office down in SatCom. When he arrived it took him a second to remember she'd been promoted and had moved around a bit so he looked through all the glass offices until he spotted Rachel's signature red hair. If Rachel was around Mindy shouldn't be too far away but he couldn't seem to spot her anywhere. Eventually he just knocked on Rachel's office and asked her "Hey Rachel, do you know where Mindy is?"

"Um," she thought looking to where he office must have been "She's not in her office. Maybe ask her assistant Catherine?" She instructed pointing at an African American girl writing something on her laptop outside of the empty office that was presumably Mindy's.

"She has an assistant?"

"Being boss comes with some perks." She smiled gesturing at her own assistant, a brunette man with glasses and a pretty casual looking blue and white striped shirt and jeans with a formal navy blue jacket on.

"Huh, nice." He nodded approvingly "Anyways thanks for the help."

As if by clockwork by the time he'd gotten to Mindy's assistant, Catherine, asked her Mindy was and found out she'd gone for lunch a picture of him talking to Rachel had already been uploaded to twitter captioned:

 **A wild Watney appears in the wilderness of SatCom.**

There were a few pictures underneath it, one was of him standing in the main area looking around, another was of him entering Rachel's office, another of them talking; she's pointing to her assistant and he's laughing, another of him leaving and then the last one of him talking to Mindy's assistant.

Thankfully none of the context was given so no one called him out on trying to find Mindy although some of the MarkPark shippers seemed worried that Mark was dating either The Red Head (Rachel) or Ms Carter (Christine). Mark was surprised at how fast the Ms Carter think popped up, apparently she looked a little like the woman who played Peggy Carter on some old Marvel show _'Agent Carter'_ and having looked it up Mark had to admit they were oddly similar.

Either way when he'd gotten to the cafeteria he'd caught up on all the new memes about him and calmed his nerves enough that he wouldn't chicken out. He was doing this. He was asking Mindy out.

As it turned out Mindy did have other friends besides Rachel and him in NASA and she was eating with them, of course she wouldn't just be eating alone in the cafeteria like he'd imagined, there was no way he could ask her out now. He considered hiding and getting the hell out but before he could do that Mindy spotted him, smiled and waved him over.

Mark panicked gave her the 'one moment' signal and got into the small queue for food. They all used biometric finger scanners for lunch but when he went to scan the food he'd gotten the cafeteria lady waved him off and gave it to him for free.

It pays to be a NASA celebrity.

Mindy's group scootched over and he sat down next to them as she introduced everyone "Mark this is everyone, everyone this is Mark."

"Hi Mark." They all said out of sync.

"Hi everyone." He said back and then looked at Mindy "But you do know I'm going to actually need some names right?"

She laughed "That's Cho Ganias she works in SatCom with me,"

a tiny East-Asian woman piped up "Hi."

"that's Ross Chambers, he's in printing,"

A slightly less attractive Matt Bomer waved at him "Sup"

"This is Helen List, she also works in SatCom."

She too waved at Mark and said hi.

"Cho, Ross, Helen. Got it." Mark repeated back pointing to each person as he committed their faces to his memory. One skill that he'd gained through working in a large corporation was the ability to network, sometimes getting ahead at NASA was as simple as knowing someone who knows someone. Since he'd gotten back form Mars his networking skills had plummeted, he wanted to be around less people, he had a harder time recognising faces after so long with none and he had forgotten how to interact with people. It had gotten better now but at the beginning Annie didn't even want him to do interviews.

They chatted amiably for the remainder of their meal and then Matt Bomer- sorry Ross Chambers left the table to get back to work. Cho blanched because she'd left earlier then the others and would have to run back across NASA to make it back to her station without registering her as late "I have to go!" She cried in a panic as she tried to gather up her stuff for the bin.

Mindy shooed her away "Cho, go. We'll deal with this stuff."

"Thank you so much Mindy, you're a life saver!" And she was off like a shot.

Now it was juts Helen, Mindy and Mark. Mark wanted Helen to leave so he could talk to Mindy but that would be rude and they were mid conversation. Maybe this was a sign that he shouldn't say anything. The universe _wants_ him to keep his mouth shut. Maybe-

"Anyways Mark, we actually have to get back to work as well."

"Oh yeah right, you go."

"Oh by the way how comes you're in the cafeteria, you don't usually come down here?"

 _'I came to tell you I love you'._ "I just missed breakfast this morning, overslept a bit."

"Like NASA wouldn't let you stroll in a couple minutes late." She laughed.

"Oh I don't doubt that they would, when I was doing my own thing I did so much shit and got away with it but now I'm with the team, and they're counting on me to do my part otherwise they can't do theirs so..."

She smiled "Always doing what's best for others. That's what makes you one of the good ones." and on that line her and Helen were off back to work at SatCom.

Mark sighed, his confessing his love really... really failed.


	52. 50) We Just Go Around Baby

**50 We Just Go Around Baby**

 **Boomerang by Jidenna**

Mark spent the rest of the day floating around the office like a ghost. It was like he was on auto pilot. His colleagues must have senses something was wrong because no one pushed him and they left him alone to do his own thing for the most part.

Annie took him aside at some point as someone who was not just a work friend but an actual friend and asked him what was up, he shook his head and claimed it was nothing.

"Clearly it's not nothing Mark, you've been off all day. Everyone's worried."

"Okay it's not nothing to me but it's nothing to worry about. It's not a big deal, don't worry I'll get over it."

"Have you talked to Shields?"

"Really Annie it's not a big deal, nothing I can't handle myself."

"But you don't have to-"

"I was going to do something and I'm worried I missed the opportunity I probably haven't so once I... check up on that I'll be back to regular old Watney. Really Annie I'm grateful but you don't have to worry."

"Okay, and you'd talk to someone if it was?"

"Of course." He hesitated before he asked "Hey Annie, how long do you think I'll be a hot topic for?"

"Honestly I thought you would die out after you got back but it seems all this stuff with Mars, Olympus Mons, Ares V, you're a celebrity now Mark; there's always going to some news sight interested in you."

"Mmmm. Okay. Thanks."

Annie took the reply as the dismissal that it was and took it as her cue to leave but not without shooting off a text to Dr Shields about if Mark was dealing with the media attention and if he'd gotten used to the idea that he might never have true privacy again, at least not for a long while.

Mindy Park opened her door to a rapid knocking only to find Mark outside. "Mark!" She exclaimed surprised, she took in his figure there was something slightly off from his usual self and she couldn't put her finger on it "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No. Mindy... you're amazing."

"I... what?"

"You're amazing, you are. You're smart and you're kind and you're beautiful."

She scoffed "Beautiful? Maybe when I slap some make up on but-"

"I've always thought you were beautiful. When you where your baggy cardigans and your mom jeans and your glasses that have about the thickest rims I've ever seen since Urkel."

"Who?"

"You're beautiful no matter what. And I've wanted to tell you something and I never did because I'm a coward."

"Mark, you're one of the bravest people I know, you're not a coward."

"But I am! I'm cowardly and I have panic attacks and I hate being alone but I hate being crowded and the paps follow me everywhere and I have touch aversion but I crave contact because I'm touch starved and I've got all sorts of other issues and I never wanted to put any of that on you. I never wanted to be a burden to you."

"Mark, you're not a burden. We're friends, when I'm hurting you help me and when you're hurting I help you, that's just how it works."

Mark huffed "I've gone and ruined this whole thing. I didn't come here to tell you all my flaws but I feel you should know them now before... I came here to tell you that I love you. I've loved you since-" Mark tried to remember a time before Mindy came into his life when he didn't love her "-since we met."

Mindy stared at him for a second in shock. She was silent for about ten seconds the two of them just staring at each other and then M ark looked away and cringed "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"-Mark-" she tried to get his attention.

"-I'll just go-"

"-Mark-" she tried again.

"-We can forget I ever said anything-"

"-Mark!" She yelled, snapping him out of his embarrassment begotten rant, Mindy pulled him forward, down to her level and kissed him full on the mouth. "I love you too." She said with a huge grin on her face "I've been meaning to tell you that for ages as well. I guess I'm just as cowardly."

He chortled "Wow, we're just a bunch of cowards here."

She pulled him fully into her apartment seeing as this whole time he'd just been standing awkwardly outside her door.

Mark laughed "You know... I feel like some of our friends are going to make some money from us getting together. I just know Rick started putting money on the odds of us getting together."

She laughed "Who do you think won?"

"I'm hoping Beth. She usually just knows these things."

"So you really liked me back this whole time?" She asked still in disbelief.

"Yeah, and you liked me, like like-liked me."

"We're honestly ridiculous." Mindy laughed as she kissed him again.

"So does this make you my girlfriend?"

"Does this make you my boyfriend?"

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes, that's a yes."


	53. 51) We've Got This Synergy

**51) We've Got This Synergy**

 **Runnin' by Kehlani**

Mindy lay half on top of Mark and half on top of her sofa as they lay there watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Season 40. Mark was running his hand through her hair, teasing out the small knots that had appears in her naturally curly hair over the course of the day. Another gift from her father seeing as her mother's hair was as straight as a noodle.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"What?" Mindy asked having not heard Mark's question.

"Your favourite colour."

"Magenta. What's yours?"

"Turquoise. I could never decide between blue and green. What's your favourite number."

"Um, favourite number? I guess... 8. Because when you turn it sideways it's infinity."

"Well my favourite number is infinity because when you turn it sideways it's 8."

"Oh come on, your favourite number can't be infinity." She protested.

"Okay okay, I concede. I was joking anyways, but my favourite number is actually 8."

"What? No it's not."

"It is! Because I was born in 12th October."

"The 12th day of the 10th month makes 8 your favourite number?"

"When you put it like that it sound silly but October, you know Oct means 8 and when I was really young I thought October was the 8th month because why wouldn't it be."

"And December would be the 10th month."

"Exactly."

"Fair enough. It is weird that Sept means 7 but it's the 9th month, Oct means 8 but it's 10th month and Dec means 10 but it's the 12 month. And then there's just November like what is that?"

"Actually I think Novem means 9 in Latin or something."

She blinked at him "So November means 9th month but it's the 11th month? That makes even less sense!"

"Look I didn't make the calendar blame Caesar or something."

"So we have the same favourite number. That's cool."

"Yeah, it's like we were made for each other." Mark hesitated "Mindy... if people find out we're dating they're never going to leave us alone."

"It'll die down eventually. And even if it doesn't... you're worth it."

"You're sure?"

"We're already boyfriend and girlfriend. No take backs, Watney."

"I wouldn't want any take backs."

 **A/N: Reference to my friend JPAnderson on who's writing their own MarkPark Martian fanfic.**

 **Finally enough YAMAMA is a moderately fast burn in terms of their relationship whereas mine seems to drag on forever.**

Just then his phone buzzed. It was a text from Beth, the hackers who had gotten into NASA systems trial was starting soon and they want Mark to appear in court. He hasn't been subpoenaed but if he does this is just a heads up.

He shot back a ' **Thanks for the warning.'**

"Let's not tell anyone." Mark said.

"What?"

"If we tell people they'll bug us, right now there's no news."

"I thought no news meant they would bug us so they could get news."

Mark shrugged "But I'm a pretty boring guy. I'm literally doing nothing newsworthy."

Mindy sighed "You're Mark Watney, I think anything you do is news worthy. At least for now."


	54. 52) We Ain't Gotta Keep This On The Low

**52 We Ain't Gotta Keep This On The Low**

 **Catching Villains by Chizzy Stephens**

The next day at work everyone knew whatever funk Mark Watney had been in yesterday, he had pulled himself out of it because he was all smiles and grins and quippy jokes. He'd become the life of the office and no one quite knew why, not that anyone was complaining, they liked Fun!Mark way more than Mopey!Mark.

Of course Dr Shields knew why. He'd walked into her office with an extra spring in his step and she'd immediately started grilling him for information, it didn't take long for him to crack and tell her about MarkPark finally being canon since they had patient-doctor confidentiality but he hadn't yet come around to telling his friends.

He wanted to tell them, obviously, and he would eventually. He just wanted a moment to be with Mindy without Beth and Rick's jokes about how everyone saw this coming except them.

Speak of the devil "Hey Mark."

"Martinez, what do I owe the pleasure?" Around them the conversation hushed a bit the way it always did when 2 or more Ares III members were together.

"Dr Wetblanket wants to make sure I'm up for being the Commander of Ares V so he wants to interview the crew."

Mark sighed "Uh, really? I have to talk to that guy again? He's literally the worst."

Rick laughed in agreement "How do you think I feel, he's my main psychologist. At least you get someone cool like Shields."

"So when did he want me to come up and talk to him?"

"Actually... now."

"Now?" Mark asked "Um... I'm going to have to check with Annie-"

Annie seemed to materialise behind them "I just got a call from Kapoor that I'm to release you."

"Um yeah, did you know about this?"

"I just got the call Mark. But don't worry I'm sure we'll manage for half an hour without you."

"Okay then." He stood up and tucked in his shirt since the doctor (whose name Mark had actually forgotten since they always called him Dr Wetblanket or something similar) always commented on their state of dress. "Let's go." Rick led him up to Dr Wetblanket's room where the plaque on his door displayed his name as Doctor R. Capper. They knocked and Capper waved Rick out of the room and then greeted Mark. "Doctor Capper, it's nice to see you again."

"You too Watney, how have you been holding up?"

"Just fine. Thanks."

"Really?"

"Thought we were here to talk about Rick, I have my own therapist." Mark bristled, the slight hostility very clear in his voice even for someone who wasn't trained to look for it.

"Right. Dr Shields." He sniffed.

 _'Jealous'_ Mark thought and hoped it didn't show on his face. "Well how about we get started, I _do_ need to get back to work."

"Right, of course. Sorry to disrupt you. Okay how guilty do you think Martinez feels about you being left on Mars?"

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the Commander and one being you; I'd say about a 4? I mean it's not like he gave the order like Lewis or pronounced me dead like Beck but I think the whole crew has a kind of... underlying feeling of guilt about leaving me on Mars."

"Do you blame them?"

"Of course not!"

"Now officially NASA sanctioned the Hermes to slingshot back to Mars but we both know that's not how it happened. The Commander led a mutiny and Rick was in full support of it. They both knew they would be court martialled and yet they still risked themselves for you. Why do you think that is?"

"Well I don't know about any _mutiny_ ," Mark said innocently, Teddy and Annie had drilled it into them that even with their own people they couldn't admit to a mutiny so how this guy knew of all people was beyond him, but he wasn't about to lay out the truth "however Rick may have agreed to come back for me for a number of reasons. They're military and astronauts, they're willing to put their lives on the line. We've all been friends for so long we're like a family, when you're one of six people in a space for months on end you get pretty close. And Rick knows if it came down to it, I would do the same for him."

"Do you think Rick's friendship with the Ares III crew will stop him from bonding with the Ares V?"

"No, Rick he's... I know Beth once said I was everyone's favourite but Rick's a close second. He gets along with everybody, he jokes but he knows when to be serious. He's military, it wouldn't do for him not to be serious. Plus he's the best damn pilot NASA has right now, it would be a damn shame if he wasn't on the Ares V."

"That wasn't the question I asked."

"Well no, I don't think his friendship with us will stop him from bonding with Ares V. Astronauts are very adaptable people."

"Also Mark... did you ever figure out why Aquaman can control whales when they're mammals not fish?"

Watney smiled, maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. "He controls all animals of the sea, not just fish."

"Well then that will be all."

"Okay then." Mark got up, hoping he'd said the right things to get Rick on the mission, he'd run them by Siobhan tomorrow and see what she thought since she was much better at this job than he was.

He'd also have to bring up the increasing burden tweeting about himself had become. Whoever thought to give him this job did not think this through, neither did he actually but he was just glad to be doing _anything_ and he finally had NASA colleagues that didn't look at him like he was a rock star. It was nice to feel normal again, even if just for a little while.


	55. 53) Don't Count On Me To Stay

**53 Don't Count On Me To Stay**

 **Stay by Post Malone**

Mindy was at Mark's house for the fifth time that week. They'd been dating for two weeks now, totally in secret, the only person who knew was Doctor Shields and that's because she was damn good at reading people. They'd decided that Mindy should come to his to avoid anymore 'Mark Watney walk of shame' incidents although they might not have even bothered since the Watney Hype seemed to be dying down a bit.

Mark couldn't tell if it was because he hadn't done anything of interest of because they were losing interest in him but either way he liked flying under the radar for now. He'd started doing the occasional school visit which meant he got a couple puff pieces about him but nothing about him personally just things about his visits and the cool NASA merch he'd handed out.

In his spare time he'd gotten back to editing his logs. Sure his side of things had been released to the public but they'd been laid out in such a way that most people didn't understand them. His messages and correspondents with NASA weren't in there and NASA's reactions weren't in there, so he gathered numbers of people who had worked on it and started doing interviews of the background people who had helped get him back home.

They were surprised when he approached them, and they seemed even more surprised that he was so nice and how sincere his gratefulness sounded and they were all too happy to tell all about how they had reacted, how their superiors had reacted, the vibe of NASA during the rescue attempts and of course how they had assisted in getting Mark Watney home again. Honestly it was crazy how many people helped him, every person he spoke to gave him a list of more and more people who had helped him and of course everyone in SatCom pointed at Mindy's new office with pride and Mark tried not to look like he was glowing with pride as well.

Honestly it was insane, everyday he kept getting more insight into how hard it had been to get him home. He spoke to everyone from NASA's director to the cafeteria staff, one lady had a hilarious story about when Mindy and Kapoor had come into the hall and stolen their map in order to plot out his course to Pathfinder. That part was definitely going in the book. If he ever wrote a book.

Right now he didn't know what he was doing with all this information but he'd been formatting it like a book and he's sure NASA would _love_ to sell his story, they need the money after all they spent trying to get him back, and he would be singing about the unsung heroes of NASA.

OOOOH! That's what he should call the book! _'The Martian: Unsung Heroes of NASA'_ ha! It's perfect! He'd have to pitch it to Annie really soon and get it green lit.

Although it would take a while to format it the way he wanted it to be formatted, especially since he now had an actual job and a girlfriend.

It took everything in his power not to "Squee" right there, he had a _girlfriend_! Mindy Park was his girlfriend! It was like a dream come true.

Speaking of which, said girlfriend shuffled herself so that she was straddling him and slowly came down to kiss him, giving him enough time to tell her to stop. He didn't. They made out on his sofa for what felt like years, everything inside him was burning up only this time it didn't hurt, it felt like he was on fire, but on fire with passion, her tongue felt hot against his, her hands found a place on his chest, pulling them closer together.

Mark found that they were never close enough, he wanted to be closer, he never wanted to leave her side. He pulled his arms around her and deepened the kiss in an attempt to get her closer to him even though at this point it was physically impossible.

He wanted to breath her in, inhale her, he never wanted this moment to end, he wanted to worship her. He hadn't been intimate like this in so long, even before Mars since he had been so focussed on his mission he'd hit a bit of a dry spell and then he'd come back and met Mindy and he'd been pining after her ever since.

They didn't go further then just making out. After what happened last time with his touch aversion and her flashbacks Mark thought they were both kind of nervous of ruining the moment so at 11 PM when Mindy decided she'd better head home so she'd have enough sleep they stopped making out.

As Mindy wandered around his apartment, collecting her stuff Mark blurted out "What don't you stay?"

She looked up at him, a bit shocked. "What?"

"Stay the night. It's late and it will take you a while to get back home so just...stay."

They started at each other for a few seconds, Mindy still half bend over in the act of collecting her bag off the floor "I don't have clothes for tomorrow." She said quietly.

Mark winced "Right of course, yeah. Forget it, it's stupid."

"I _want_ to stay. But I can't go to work wearing the same thing as yesterday and I don't have spare clothes at the office. I should probably do that, I know all the guys have spare stuff in their offices."

"Yeah I know, you're right. You better go before it gets any later."

Mindy nodded, grabbed her stuff and left him with one last kiss.


	56. 54) I Got Issues I Need You

**54 I Got Issues, And One Of Them Is How Bad I Need You**

 **Issues by Julia Michaels**

"And it's like neither of us wants to make the first move because every time someone gets that close to me I start burning up and last time we almost got jiggy, she panicked because of Pearce. How are we supposed to progress?"

Siobhan nodded in thought "Well Mark, your thing will just require time and patients, if what you told me about last night is accurate, then it's already getting better. You're touch sensitive, you just need to build up a tolerance. Did you go see that touch therapist I referred to you a while ago?" 

He winced "Um, not yet."

"Go see her Mark, she'll help. Trust me."

"Okay. But what about Mindy?"

"She only got Pearce flashbacks when you tried to take off her pants?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"When Pearce assaulted her, he took away her control. Mindy seems like a girl who likes having at least a level of control over things, it's why she's so good at her job in SatCom, maybe when you tried to undress her she felt out of control."

"So how do I counter that?" 

"I suggest having her take off her own pants. That might get her past the mental block of it. It's not 100%, I can't know for certain unless I actually talked to _her_ but that's my best bet." 

"Thanks Shields."

"Now let's talk about how you've been going with the vicodin."

He dug around in his pocket and proudly displayed the same unopened pill from last week "I didn't take it!"

"That's great, Mark! Now was it because you didn't feel the urge to take it or because there was nothing stressful happening this week?"

"I think it was Mindy." 

She winced "Careful Mark. It's good to allow others to help you through your addiction but it's not good to place all of your well being into someone else's hands."

"Isn't that your job?"

"My job is to give you the tools and the mind set for you to help yourself, my job is not to be in charge of your well being. Mindy's a great girl Mark but you need to be able to resist the temptation even when she's not there." 

Mark nodded "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really proud of you and you should be proud of yourself too just don't put all your eggs in one basket."

– – – – –

Mark had been doing really well. Siobhan's Vicodin plan had worked pretty well, because he kept saving it for when he felt really bad he ended up never taking it because he hadn't felt really bad in a while. He'd been doing really well actually, Chris had commented on it.

Speaking of which Chris and Beth had set the date for their wedding, Beth wanted to do it before the baby was born and before she started showing so it would a relatively small ceremony, relatively close. And he would bring Mindy as his date. Although he would have to tell his crew before that that they were a couple since he didn't want to steals the couple's lime light.

Which means he would have to tell the crew soon. Which means he was about to get roasted.

That day after work he got a bit fidgety because Mindy was like an hour late coming to his house. She wasn't technically late, they'd never set an actual time for her to come over but every other time she'd come over at the same time everyday like clock work and now she was no where to be seen. What if something had happened to her? What if she'd realised how screwed up Mark was and decided to end it? What if she didn't like him at all? He pulled out the single blister pack that contained the vicodin and considered taking it, just to take the edge off. But 'taking the edge off' last time had led him down a dark path so he slowly put it away and got a cup of decaf coffee instead, loading it full of sugar as a way to distract himself from his nerves.

And then there was a knock at his door and when he opened it there was Mindy with a bag in her hand and a coy smile on her face. She held up the bag to be chest level and said "It's an overnight bag."

"So," Mark replied, a grin slowly making its way onto his face, "you're staying overnight?"

"If you want me to."

"Of course I want you too." He stepped aside to let her into the apartment and she put her bag down underneath his coffee table. "You know Beth and Chris' wedding is going to be real soon."

"Mmm yeah, Rich was telling me that Beth wanted to avoid pregnancy belly."

"Rich was telling you that?"

"Okay Rich was telling me the stats on how fast people go from engaged to married but I read between the lines." 

Mark laughed at that "Classic Rich." he took a deep breath "So um anyways... I was wondering if...if you'd like... we could go together."

"Of course we'll go together."

"But I mean like... as an out and out couple."

The implication of his words dawned on her "So we have to tell people."

"Just the crew and our other friends."

Mindy hesitated "You know Mark, I like keeping you all to myself but if we're... I mean... the longer we... we're going to have to tell everyone eventually."

"Yeah I know. I just don't want our little bubble to pop just yet."

"Neither do I. So when do we tell the crew and when do we tell the world?"

"Vogel and the family are flying in from Germany next week, seems like a good time to make the announcement."

"Okay then. Next week." She reaffirmed, "Until then it will be just us."


End file.
